


Caught in History

by Mercy_Rhyne



Series: Fics of the MFU (Mercy's Fic Universe) [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, But he's trying, Fighting, Lot of stuff happening, M/M, Roman is still a dumbass, Roman tries to fight a gang but he's a smol man, The squad deserves better, There's gonna be murder attempts so be aware, There's happy, There's sad, he needs help, there's gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2020-10-24 07:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20702075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne
Summary: Still dealing with the aftermath of what happened with Logan, Roman tries to pick up both of his lives, trying to maintain his personal life, while also continuing his work in protecting the city as Creativity. He's onto a gang that seems to have secured something strange, known as the i-particle, but his attempts in defeating the gang seem fruitless. Until another player enters the field.But at the same time- there's more trouble on the way for Roman. Someone who seems to have more personal issues with the teen hero.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Fighting, injuries

Roman made sure to stick to the shadows as he snuck through the old warehouse. He tried to dodge as many guards as possible in an attempt to get to the backroom without any commotion. He didn’t want this whole facility knowing that he was there. Not until he absolutely had to reveal himself. But he hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. If all went according to plan, Roman could just sneak through all the rooms, get the information he needed, and get out of there without being seen. Of course, things rarely went according to plan. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t try. 

There was only one more door to go. Well- there were two. Roman and the others had researched the shit out of this place, and found pictures of when it was still in business. There was supposed to be one large room behind the door Roman found himself next to. On the other side of the room, there would be an office. Roman had reasoned that the thugs who had taken up their residence in this place would have the smarts to use the office as… well… an office, and would actually leave the information behind there. Which was the smart thing to do, as the small office was easier to guard than one big room, obviously. The fact that it was the only place in this old warehouse that he hadn’t managed to take a look at yet also helped him in coming to this conclusion. 

When one of the guards had passed his hiding spot behind some old boxes, Roman snuck out and opened the door just enough for him to look into the next room. As far as he could see, there were only five guards pacing around a mostly empty room, with only some sealed containers and boxes with questionable labels. It was the same thing he saw everywhere; empty rooms, full containers. He wondered what they contained, but he was usually too busy getting chased out of the gang’s hideouts to stop and check. Hopefully he could get to their computer and get away with enough information to tell him more. 

After making sure no one was looking at him, the teen carefully let himself into the big room, the door slamming shut behind him a little louder than intended. At the sudden noise, all guards turned in his direction, guns pointed at the teen hero, who just stretched his arms, pulling the weapons out of their hands. 

"Sorry boys," the hero shrugged as three of the guards made their way towards him, while the two last ones stayed behind, sticking close to the door at the very back. "I have a strict no-gun policy, so..."

The front man - and probably the buffest of the three there - said something in a foreign language, to which the other two nodded and turned around. Roman tried to see what they were doing, but was distracted by the man charging at him. He jumped back, stumbling over his feet as he hurried to avoid getting hit. However, his efforts were in vain, as the guy managed to punch him anyways, which sent him stumbling back even more. He _ did _ manage to prevent another hit by stopping his opponent's fist with his telekinesis. 

"Where did your buddies go, pal?" Roman asked, roundhouse kicking the man in the chest. "They're missing out on all the fun!"

The man growled something Roman couldn't quite understand, before grabbing a knife. The teen tried to pull it out of his hand, but the weapon wouldn't budge. 

"What the- holy shit," he ducked quickly, the knife missing him by less than an inch. Without hesitation, the hero held his opponent's arm in place with telekinesis before hitting his chin with an uppercut, followed by a kick to the chest that sent the man a few steps back. While the guy was distracted, Roman used his telekinesis to throw him into the wall. The knife loudly clattered to the ground. When the guy fell down, it became clear that the wall had definitely cracked, yet the man seemed unbothered by this. He just shrugged it off and grinned at the teen in front of him. This was bad. This was... really fucking shitty. That guy was just thrown into a wall, how was he not K.O? Or at the very least _hurt_? Roman took a few steps back as the man advanced. He had to do something, he had to _think_ of something, but if this wasn't enough to knock him out... what would be? 

The next moment, Roman was met with a strong punch to the jaw. As he stumbled back, he raised his hand to strike back, but the guy hit again in the same spot. The hero tripped over his own feet, falling down. He looked up just in time to see a fist coming down, and raised his hands, a shield materializing between them just in time to protect him from the blow. He rolled to the side and dissolved his shield before jumping up. He then performed a spinning hook kick to the man's chest, sending him back a few steps. Roman used this to land a few more punches, before his opponent grabbed his arm and threw him across the room, into a few crates. Despite every inch of him protesting this, Roman pushed himself up and took up a fighting stance again. His opponent didn't even look like he'd been in a fight. What was he made of? Just that moment, a door in the back opened, and in came the remaining guards. And they had gathered a few more of their mates. Some of them went to the back to join the two guards who had taken their position there, but a few others seemed to be intent on fighting the hero that had infiltrated their hideout. 

"Oh, great," Roman sighed. "Just what I wanted. Even more of you guys."

The following fight was going quite alright for Roman. He did struggle, and he took quite a few hits, but that was nothing he wasn't used to; this gang seemed to have an endless supply of henchmen - either that or the same few people just showed up everywhere he went. Either way, he managed to take out quite a few of the bad guys. Which was really, really good for him. 

The teen threw a few crates at a few henchmen and -women, knocking them out. He didn't need a very long window, as long as he could reach the office and copy its documents to his USB, he would be fine, but he... wasn't sure if he could. His first priority was to get rid of these henchmen as well as he could so they would not hinder him in his quest to obtain the information he needed. 

After just a few moments, Roman got to the office. Not everyone in the room was knocked out yet, but he figured his telekinesis would help him in keeping them away from him. He didn’t want to wait any longer. When he reached the door, the young hero decided not to try to open it himself - it would probably be locked anyways. Instead, he threw one of the gang members at the door with his telekinetic powers, easily breaking it down. "And that's how it's done," Roman muttered as he jumped into the office. "Now... this better be quick."

He knocked out the two people in the room by throwing them into the wall with telekinesis, before he ran to the computer, getting the USB out of his boot and inserting it into the plug-in. Luckily, the computer was left unlocked, as the guys hadn't had any time to lock it before the hero knocked them out. (How convenient, I wonder how that could have happened.)

A few guards ran into the room, trying to stop the teen hero from obtaining the information. It just sucked for them that he had the power to push them away with his mind. However, other than a few disturbances, Roman easily got away with downloading the files he needed. Or rather… the ones he thought he might need. There were a lot of files on the computer, and a lot of them seemed like they could be relevant. So he just downloaded all of them. 

However, it felt a little… _ too _easy. A few guards came rushing in to stop him, but after he knocked them out… no one else came. And Roman was pretty sure that he didn’t defeat all of them before coming inside. 

But when he stepped out of the small office with the intention of fighting his way back out, he immediately saw why no one else had come in to stop him. 

In his absence, a familiar face had entered the room and gathered the remaining few guards around her to discuss a change of plans. (Oh fucking hell. You’ve got to be kidding me, right?)

"_ Blackbird _," the teen hero breathed, looking at the female on the other time of the room. Of course she had to show up. Roman had been tracking this gang for a few weeks now, and she had shown up nearly every time he had tried to infiltrate what he reasoned would be one of their bases. He had hoped that this time, he could sneak in, get the information he came for and get out without her interference, but it seemed that things weren't as easy. Too bad. Fighting her always was a pain in the ass. She always managed to kick Roman’s ass in a matter of seconds, it seemed. She was a difficult foe to face, mostly because she very rarely chose to fight with her fist, taking preference to her powers instead. That that was her biggest strength, and she knew it.

As soon as she saw the young hero, Blackbird raised her hand and Roman jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid a blast of dark energy as the other gang members rushed at him as well. So now he'd have to deal with her and half the gang _while _protecting his USB? That was just... great. He could definitely do that. Though… this ordeal wasn't as complicated as you might think. There were a lot of people and Blackbird was strong, even managed to hit Roman a few times. But then… there was a loud crash and a burst of light. Roman shielded his eyes and as the light disappeared, he saw another guy in a suit. Mostly white, with splashes of colour here and there. And a cape that was very obviously a gay pride flag. Nice. (There. Try to fuck that up.)

For a moment, Roman feared that it was even more backup the gang had hidden from him, but then the newcomer attacked the gang members who immediately rushed at them. So they were on the same side. Sort of. 

Most of the people were now focused on the new hero, who fought them with flashes of light and the occasional punch or kick. Which gave Roman a chance to try to get out. He knocked out a few guards here and there and made his way to the door, but when he decided to take his leave, a blast of darkness hit close by, knocking him off his feet in the process. He saw the USB fly out of his hand, but before he could fly it into his hand again, someone else picked it up and held it tightly. 

“Oh, what's this?” Blackbird drawled in her French accent. “Looks pretty.”

Roman glared at the villain as he pushed himself to his feet. “That doesn't belong to you.” He held out a hand, wanting to lure the USB back to himself. However, the female just closed her fingers around it, tutting softly.

“It doesn't belong to you either,” she chided teasingly, smirking at the teenager. “I should take this.”

Leaving the other no time to respond, she blasted a hole in the wall leading outside. “Oh no, you don't,” he hissed, preparing to stop her with his powers. However, Blackbird stopped him by sending a blast of darkness at his chest. It was powerful enough to send him into the wall, which audibly cracked. And honestly, it felt like Roman's back cracked too. And his neck. And his skull. And literally every other bone in his body. But he didn't give up. Or… he couldn't. That was a better way of phrasing things. He couldn't let that information slip. Not after all the effort it took to even _ get _ here! But _ fuck, _ this hurt.

He didn't even notice someone approaching him. He easily could've been killed in this state, as vulnerable and unaware as he was, but… guess he was lucky that it was the rainbow-caped guy who had joined the fight earlier. 

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” a guy's voice asked as he crouched down next to Roman, gently grabbing his arm. The voice was vaguely familiar to the teenager, but he didn’t quite know how to place it.

“Fine,” the younger guy groaned in response, his head spinning like crazy. “Just… follow Blackbird. She- she had something of mine. A USB. If you could- get it back?”

“I'll try,” the other promised. “Stay here.”

Before Roman could respond that it was not like he could get very far, the other guy was gone. Typical. 

The teen rolled his eyes and tried to push himself into a sitting position. A seemingly easy task, but not in a state like Roman’s. His head was spinning, his entire body hurt and he was shocked he wasn't dead - not uncommon these days. He just hoped this new guy could keep up with Blackbird. She wasn't exactly an easy person. And this guy… Roman didn't know him. He didn't know how good he was. It was likely that he was new in the field, as it had only been Creativity guarding the city these past two years. So… this guy better be good. Roman already struggled to keep up with her, to predict her little tricks and attacks, and he had about two years of superhero experience, so no- this guy better be _ great _. 

Finally, Roman managed to sit up - a really dumb achievement to be proud of, but right now… yeah he was. He really needed to start bringing painkillers on his missions. The teen let out a deep sigh and rested his head against the wall behind him. God, he really hated feeling this way. You’d think he had gotten used to it at some point by now, but he still hadn’t. He had slightly learn how to deal with this kind of crap, but it wasn’t something you could _ really _get used to. It still hurt. 

After a while, the new hero came back, his suit slightly torn and stained with dirt and blood. His awesome cape was torn as well, missing its lower half. By this time, Roman had recovered enough to carefully stand again, even though he leaned against the wall a bit for support. Roman felt like he could carefully try making his way out; he was just waiting for the other guy to come back. 

“I'm sorry,” he older hero immediately started, clearly out of breath. “I didn't- she was just-”

“I get it,” Roman interrupted with a wave of his hand. “She's a tricky one. It's fine. Thank you for trying.” He had to admit; he was a little disappointed, and hugely bummed that he didn't have his USB back. After all the trouble it had taken him to even find this location, it would be nice if he could be rewarded with the location of their super secret lab. Or wherever they kept the particle. But it wasn't this guy's fault. Blackbird was a tough foe. 

“But your USB-”

“It's _ fine _, really. Don't worry.” He gave the other his best reassuring smile. “So- let me guess, cape grab?” He gestured at the other's torn cape, wanting to change the subject as quickly as he could. 

“What? Oh- yeah,” the newer hero said with a sheepish chuckle. “Had to cut myself loose. It's a shame.”

“It is,” Roman nodded. “One advice, though: get rid of the cape. It might look cool, but it's dangerous, as you've noticed. Take it from me, it's much easier without cape.”

The other nodded. “Alright… alright. Makes sense.”

Roman grinned. “Thanks for crashing the party, though. Couldn't have done this without you.”

“You're quite welcome, glad I could help.”

The teenager nodded, but stayed quiet, not sure how to respond. “You know,” he started after a few seconds, “I should get going. I need to form a new plan since all my plans were thrown out of the… wall, I guess.”

“Sure thing,” the older hero chuckled. “I might… see you around.”

Roman grinned. “Looking forwards to it.” He walked towards the hole in the wall before realizing something and turning around again. “Wait. You got a name?”

“Yeah. Call me Prism.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Injuries, some conflict, self-loathing/guilt

Roman first got himself up to the first roof he found, giving himself some time to recover in peace and to think about what he had encountered this day. Or  _ who _ , I should say. This Prism guy, mainly, but also the new gang members he found. Especially the invincible guy who wasn't affected by being thrown in a fucking wall, like he possessed some sort of super strength. He had never encountered people like that. Not in this gang. 

The teen reached into his boot and got out his phone, quickly dialing Virgil’s number. It barely took two rings before the other guy answered. 

“Ro! You're okay? Did you get the things you needed?”

“Not quite,” Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Blackbird was there. Took my USB before I could get away.”

“Shit.”

Creativity snorted. “You can say that,” he agreed. “Anyways, I'll come back soon, I can give you a summary then. But can you do me a favour and try to find anything about a guy in a white suit and a rainbow cape? He can… I don't know, shoot light out of his hands or something? Calls himself Prism.”

“I'll do my best,” Virgil promised, “how are you?”

“In agony,” Roman joked, “but I'm fine, it's definitely been worse. I'll be home soon. Window still open?”

“You got it.”

“Awesome. See you guys there. Oh- maybe get some ice packs ready.”

Roman ended the phone call and got up. Despite his aching limbs, it was definitely time to go home and discuss things with the others. Maybe they could give him some more info about Prism. He was dying to see if there was anything online about this character. He needed to know as much about this guy as he could. See if he was a threat to this city or not. He didn’t seem like it, but in a business like this, one could never be too careful.

When the teen got back to his apartment, he quickly swung himself through the open window leading to his room. He huffed as he made a small shoulder roll - which was a mistake, because everything hurt, and doing that had  _ definitely  _ hurt as well. 

“Ro!” Patton gasped, rushing to grab one of the ice packs they had grabbed from the kitchen. “How are you? You look horrible!”

Roman flinched slightly as Patton put the cold ice pack to his jaw gently. “I’ve been better,” he responded finally, cracking a careful smile as he took the ice pack in his own hand, taking off his mask. “They had a few surprises up their sleeves.”

Without a word, Patton walked to the window to close it, glancing around to make sure no one was looking at them. “At least you made it back,” he concluded as he shut the curtains. 

“Yeah, but without the information I needed,” Roman sighed frustratedly. He hated this feeling of… failure. He had done so much research, it had taken them so much time and effort to find out where to strike. And just when he thought he had gotten close… he lost it. And now they were still no closer to finding the true location of the gang’s lab.

“Well, we can find another way to get it, right?”

“I don’t know,” the hero shrugged. “I hope so, but… they’ll up their security. It took me weeks to find out all the information I needed about their whereabouts. It’s gonna take months to infiltrate their ranks again.”

Roman was still sat on the floor, looking at his two friends above him. Virgil was still holding a laptop, scrolling through a few pages, as Patton paced the room, biting his lip. They both knew that he was right, but neither of them wanted to say it with so many words. It felt too definitive. 

“Anyways,” Roman changed the subject, putting the ice pack to the back of his throbbing head. “Did you find anything about this Prism-guy I told you about?”

“A bit,” Virgil responded. “One article from a small paper, a few tweets here and there. But it isn’t much, and it’s all from the last few months. Why? Who is this guy?”

Creativity shrugged. “Not sure,” he replied. “A new guy. Showed up at the base, fought the bad guys. I thought we could do a bit of research on this guy, see if we can recruit him as a member of our team. What do you guys think?” 

Roman saw one more ice pack on his desk and flew it into his hand, putting it to one of his ribs. Following his question, there was a brief silence. Neither Patton nor Virgil seemed to have a judgement yet. 

“Well…” Patton started. “You saw them in action. What do  _ you  _ think?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure. He’s got a good heart, good intentions, I think. But he’s… really new to all this. Still has a lot to learn, that’s for sure.”

“Do you think he’ll be a good addition?”

“I mean… probably? He’s got some good powers, and with some more training, he definitely has a lot of potential. But… do you think we should? Do we want to expand?”

“Why not?” Virgil wondered. “The more people, the better right? And if we’re on the same side… better to team up, isn’t it?”

Patton nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! And you two can split the burden, you know? So you don’t have to do all of this yourself. I think it would be nice to have someone else with us.”

Roman hummed in agreement, shifting his position slightly so it was easier to hold the ice packs. He would be lying if he said that splitting the work didn’t sound tempting. It was pretty difficult and demanding to protect an entire city by himself, and most of his free time was spent patrolling the city. If he managed to get this Prism-guy on their team… they could work together on this. And that sounded fantastic. 

“Alright,” he finally decided. “You’re right. If we can track him down again… I’ll give him the recruitment talk.”

He put the ice packs down, slowly pushing himself up again. His limbs were still sore - a bit of ice wouldn’t help that - but at least he felt… slightly better. Kinda. 

“I’m gonna get myself something to drink,” he announced. “Do you guys want anything?”

Both Patton and Virgil told him that no, they didn’t need anything, they were all good. Roman smiled and slipped out of his room, softly walking down the stairs, doing his best not to wake up his sister.

His mom was still downstairs, reading a magazine in her hands. “I’m back,” he announced softly, leaning against the wall. 

Megan snapped out of her trance as she looked up, smiling broadly as she saw her son. “Hey! How did it go?” she asked, closing the magazine. Her smile made way for a worried look quite quickly. “You look-”

“Yeah, it didn’t go as planned,” Roman sighed as he stepped forwards. “They had some pretty good guys. I mean-  _ bad  _ guys, but skilled. Kicked my ass. Which wasn’t the plan. I think I met another hero, though.”

“Oh?”

“A guy, I think,” the teen continued as he walked to the kitchen. “He can like… shoot rays of light. Kinda like the opposite of Blackbird. Who, by the way, was there as well. She stole my USB. Came out of nowhere, too. I didn’t think she was present but then she just… showed up.”

He scowled as he poured himself some ice tea. He really hated how today had gone. Now that he had failed to acquire the information they needed, the gang  _ knew  _ what he was trying to do. And that meant more security, and more work. If he would even be able to get through their security now. Today wasn’t supposed to go like this!

“And now what?”

Roman shrugged as he took a large sip of his drink. “Don’t know,” he admitted. “They’ll probably move bases, so we have to find out where they’ll go next, and how they’ll secure the place. And then I still have to get the information. It’ll be way more difficult.” He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and walked back to his mom. “But we can think about that later. It’s late enough as it is and I just wanna rest.”

“Don’t forget to take a shower,” Megan reminded her son seriously, eyeing him carefully. 

“Yeah, yeah, got it,” her son nodded. “I’m going back upstairs, though. Text me if you need something?”

“Sure thing,” she smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Roman gave her a genuine smile as he left the room. His mom knowing about his superhero existence was… weird. It was nice, in a way, as he didn’t have to hide his identity and whereabouts to her, but… it was still weird. He was putting himself in danger pretty much every living moment, and she just  _ knew  _ about this. It was probably a good thing, in a way, but… Roman wasn’t sure things would have gone this way if it was up to him. 

She had definitely had to get used to the fact that her teenage son was out there, putting his life on the line just to protect the city. But it seemed that she had warmed up to the fact, and she even asked about his missions regularly. Which had been a big influence in the decision to make their apartment the Team Creativity-base. No annoying questions they couldn't answer, no shitty lies; it had all gotten a little easier now that she knew. Weirder, but easier. 

Roman had about a week to recover from his injuries, and process the information about the new hero before he had to go back to school. Senior year, oh boy. Totally not nerve-wracking.

He was not looking forward to going back to school, for multiple reasons. First of all: going back to school wasn’t something he’d ever look forward to. Having to get up early, go to school, be forced to pay attention wasn’t really… something that Roman liked. Not to mention that school was hard to combine with Creativity. Class and homework took up a lot of time that would be better spent protecting the city. 

But this time, there was something else that bothered Roman about going back to school. The fact that he would have to face Emile again, after he… well- after Roman killed his father. The two hadn’t spoken a word since before the summer vacation. Emile hadn’t appeared at the memorial the school had organised after Logan’s death, and Roman was too scared to contact his classmate, in fear of how he would respond. But now… he couldn’t stall any longer. He’d have to confront Emile sooner or later.

Patton could borrow his mother’s car that day. She still had a few days free from her work, so Roman could get a ride with his best friend instead of taking the bus. Thank goodness. He did not want to be dealing with even more people on his first day back.

Roman was already waiting outside when Patton pulled up in front of his apartment complex. He had been particularly restless that morning, and he really had to get out for a moment. Just to get a breath of fresh air before his untimely doom. Going back to school had never been something Roman looked forwards to, but given recent events… he had dreaded it even more than usually.

“Morning, friendo,” Patton grinned as Roman got in the car. “How are you today? Ready for school?”

“God, no,” Roman scoffed as he put his bag on the floor and fastened his seatbelt. “Never. I  _ am _ ready to die today, though.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Emile,” he just responded. “I have to face him again. And you know what my first class is?”

“No?”

“Chemistry.”

“Oof, that’s gotta be weird,” Patton said, his face scrunching up in empathy ever so slightly. “But I’m sure you’ll survive.”

Roman huffed. “Sounds like you’ve got more faith in me than I do,” he commented cynically. He might be exaggerating it slightly, but he really was not looking forwards to it. While no one from their class knew that he was the one to kill their previous teacher - no one but Emile and Virgil - Roman feared that the guilt would be hard to put up with. Especially in the first few weeks and especially when he was in the same class as Emile. It would probably get easier to deal with as time progressed - he hoped so, at least - but for now… yeah. Not a nice thing to look forwards to. 

After a few more minutes of driving, the two teens made it to school and got out of the car. It almost felt like they hadn’t just been away for weeks, it was just... so familiar to be here. It was weird to imagine that this was their last year in high school. Roman had almost been convinced that it would just never end. But here they were… senior year. 

Roman grabbed his bag and got out, waiting for Patton to lock the car door before they walked towards the building. 

Once inside, the two went their separate ways, to go to their lockers and their first classes. As always, they agreed to meet up outside for their break so they could eat and talk a bit. Then, Roman went to his locker to put some of his stuff away and then he made his way to his chemistry classroom. But first… he had to make a pitstop. 

He saw Virgil standing in front of his locker and he could not resist the urge to stop by. “Hey stranger,” Roman grinned as he stopped behind Virgil, leaning his head on his shoulder. “How are you doing today?”

“Missing my bed,” Virgil said with a soft chuckle as he turned his head so he could look at Roman. Or at the side of his face, at least. 

“Oh, me too,” the other chuckled, wrapping his arms around Virgil’s waist. “I would rather let Blackbird kick my ass some more than go to chemistry. But you know… life.”

“It be like that sometimes.” Virgil closed his locker and turned to the head on his shoulder again. “Can you please let go? We should get going.”

Roman pouted, but did as he was asked anyways. “You’re no fun.”

“That’s your loss, then.”

“I never said it was a bad thing.”

The two of them chatted a bit more as they were on their way to the classroom - though that mostly consisted of Roman making teasing remarks and Virgil dismissing them or firing back another comment of his own - only to bump into… 

“Emile,” Roman murmured softly as he recognized the teen before him. Shit. He had not expected to have to talk to him so soon. “Can we…”

Emile gave the two one quick look, too quick to read it. And then, he pushed the two teens in front of him to the side, running in the opposite direction. 

“Shit.” Roman turned around, following the other with his eyes. He was the reason for this, wasn’t he? “I’m sorry,” he told Virgil quickly, “I’ve got to…”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before running after his classmate, pushing a few students aside in the process. He saw Emile rush into a bathroom, and Roman followed him, managing to catch the door just before it slammed in his face. 

Roman walked in, eyes darting around the room. It didn’t take him very long to notice that all of the stalls were empty. Good. They were alone, and had all the space they needed to talk. Or… all the space  _ Roman  _ needed to talk. He just had to apologise for what happened. He didn’t know if Emile needed to talk, or say anything. But Roman knew that he just had to apologise. He’d feel horrible if he didn’t. He had been dragging this burden with him all summer and he hated the feeling. 

“Emile…” he started as he stepped forwards, taking a moment to catch his breath. “I’m really sorry about-”

“Go away.” The mere tone of Emile’s voice made Roman freeze. It was so cold and distant. Nothing like the teen’s normal light, upbeat tone. Even if he was upset, it was still somewhat warm and light. Not… not this. God, way to make Roman feel bad, huh?

“Please, let me explain,” Roman tried. “I-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Emile interrupted once more. “Just leave me alone, Roman.”

Roman took a deep breath. If he could just get one apology in, if he could clarify it was a mistake, maybe that would make everything better. He already felt bad enough about killing Logan, but he knew he couldn’t live with himself if Emile hated him because of that. It wasn’t that they were such close friends, but the mere  _ idea _ of someone hating him for trying to do something good was the worst possibility. Especially if that someone was a person who was as kind and sweet as Emile was. He was an actual sweetheart, even to people he didn’t love. He’d never been so… cold and harsh before, and Roman was ashamed to think that he might be the first person to experience this. 

“It was an accident,” he tried once more. “Please, I-”

“Roman, just… shut up, okay?” Emile snapped, sounding more exhausted than angry. Yes, he was clearly upset and furious, but exhausted more than anything. Why couldn’t Roman just drop the topic? He did not want to deal with this on his first day back at school for fuck’s sake! “Accident or not, that changes nothing. Just… just go away, I don’t want to talk to you.”

Ouch, that  _ did _ hurt. Emile’s voice cracked near the end of his sentence, and Roman could see him tearing up, and he felt so  _ bad _ . But Emile didn’t want to talk to him. He clearly said it himself. So while Roman felt like he had to stay to try and console his classmate, he realised that it would only make things worse. Even if it felt horrible to leave Emile here, he didn’t want to mess everything up on the first day. Maybe Emile just needed a bit more time? 

“Alright,” Roman whispered softly, already taking a few steps back. “I’ll leave you alone. I’m sorry.”

He turned around and left the bathroom quickly, deciding to just… head to class. Something that he really wasn’t excited for, but something that had to be done. Sadly. It really fucking hurt to see Emile like this, because it just kept reminding him of how much he fucked up, and the fact that he couldn’t even apologise to one of the people he hurt with his mistakes didn’t make it any better. This entire situation just sucked, but there was nothing Roman could do to change it anymore. 

Roman caught up with Virgil, who had already made it to the chemistry classroom and taken up his regular seat at the back of the class. He looked up as the other sat next to him and gave him a soft smile, studying his expression. 

“Talk didn’t go too well?”

“He wouldn’t even talk to me,” Roman answered with a shake of his head. “Probably hates me at this point.”

Virgil made a soft noise of disagreement. “Are you sure? This  _ is  _ Emile, so-”

“No, you didn’t see him. He  _ absolutely  _ hates me.” Roman was convinced of this fact. He knew Emile well enough to understand that his abnormally cold behaviour had to mean something. And not something good. Everyone already knew that it would take a whole lot to actually piss of Emile. Even if he didn’t agree with something, he remained patient and tried to hear someone out. Roman didn’t think he had even seen Emile angry in the few years that they’d known each other. And still, he had managed to achieve that. Not really an achievement to be proud of.

“Maybe, he just needs time,” Virgil tried, noticing how much this ordeal had affected his… more-than-a-friend. Boyfriend? He wasn’t sure where they were. “It’s still Emile we’re talking about.”

“I just hope so,” the teen hero whispered as he grabbed his stuff from his bag. “It just sucks, you know? I want to apologise, but…”

“I get it. Just give him a bit of time,” the other tried to advise Roman. “It’s- it’s a lot to process, after all. I’m sure he’ll be okay eventually.”

Roman nodded. Virgil was probably right. He was just working himself up, just because he felt guilty about all of this. He was just stressing himself out. Everything would be alright. He just needed to give everything a bit more time. 

It didn’t take long for the new teacher to arrive and introduce themself. Mx. Richards, they said. They talked about themselves for a little bit, about what they were planning on doing for the coming weeks, and had the students briefly introduce themselves as well. By the time class started, Roman noticed that Emile still wasn’t present. And one of his best friends, Kai, was noticeably absent himself. 

After a quick introduction, Mx. Richards went over the list of students in front of them. Upon noticing that Emile and Kai were present, they asked about this, which sparked a small discussion where multiple students noted that they had seen the two at some point before class started, so they were around here somewhere. Roman kept his mouth shut. But this discussion led nowhere, so Richards cut it short so they could start up the new school year. They promised that they would see where the two were soon enough, though. 

But before they could even start, Kai already came in, followed by Emile, who apologised for their tardiness in a soft voice. His eyes were still red, and Roman could see that he had cried. Mx. Richards must have noticed as well, or in any case they saw something had happened, as they gave the two students a gentle smile and merely told them to sit down so they could start the first class of the year. The two nodded and sat down at the two only tables left on the other side of the classroom. Roman had to admit that he was relieved that he didn’t have to sit close to them. He was afraid that would make things weird. 

Other than that particular happening, the first part of the day wasn’t exactly eventful. Chemistry ended, creative writing started, and finally, lunch. Roman met up with Virgil and Patton outside, as they had grown accustomed to the year before. Patton was already there by the time Roman made it outside. Virgil had yet to arrive. 

“Hey,” the teen smiled as he sat down opposite his friend. “How was class?”

“Pretty good, actually,” Patton responded as he put down his phone to give Roman all the attention he deserved. “How about you? How was chemistry?”

Roman scoffed as he put his bag next to him. “Painful,” he muttered softly. “The new teacher seems nice enough, but… it was just painful.” He smiled as he saw Virgil approaching in the distance, but turned back to Patton after that. “And Emile won’t talk to me either, so that’s fun.”

“Really?”

He hummed in agreement, scooting to the side so that Virgil could sit down next to him. “Yeah. I saw him in the hallway, tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t let me.”

Patton hummed softly, noticing how much this affected Roman. “I’m sure he just needs some time-”

“That’s what V said,” Roman interrupted quickly, “I just hope you guys are right. I mean… I did kill his dad, you know? That’s pretty shitty thing to do.”

Even though he lowered his voice so that no one who might be close enough would hear this confession, the teen still glanced around to make sure that there was absolutely no way that someone could overhear this. 

“On accident,” Patton tried gently. And while Roman knew that he meant well, and that he wanted to help, it really wasn’t helping. He’d been over this time and time again. With Virgil, with Patton, with his mom, with himself. And it didn’t help shit. Honestly, it might even have the opposite effect after hearing it so often. 

“Accident or not, he’s still dead, isn’t he?” he huffed, ready to drop this entire conversation. “It’s not like it matters much to Emile anyways. It happened, it’s my fault, and he hates me.”

“Well I don’t think he-”

“Patton,” Roman interrupted once more, looking at his friend. “Can we just... drop this? Please?”

Patton halted for a second, eyeing the other softly. “Of course,” he nodded, understanding that Roman did not want to discuss this topic any further. He did not want to push him, so he decided to respect Roman’s wishes and drop the subject. Even if he felt like there were a few things to be said about Roman’s vision. Maybe they both needed a bit of time. After all, Logan’s death had made a huge impact on Roman as well, and he had a lot to process surrounding the event, and his own role in it. Not completely unreasonable, given the fact that it happened fairly recently and it was anything but easy. But they had time. It would all turn out okay eventually. It had to. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: fighting, injuries, possibly an attempt to kill someone, some blood, that's all

A few days later, Roman was out on the street again, patrolling as Creativity. He really had to get back into the gig of balancing his patrols with school, homework, and training. Right now, it was fairly easy, since school had just started, and he still had fairly little homework. So adjusting to this new balance was simple, until the homework started piling up again. But that was a worry for later. 

Right now, his only worry was fighting crime. 

The night was fairly uneventful. Roman kept an eye on a few shady individuals walking the streets, but he found out that they weren’t up to anything harmful. He was just about to head home, when he saw something moving in a dark alleyway below him. It was too dark to see what exactly it was. It could even have been a rat - okay, no that would have to be a terrifyingly huge rat. No, it was probably human. But Roman didn’t know who it was, or what they were doing in a dark alley at night. It could have been innocent, but Roman thought it was worth checking out anyway. If it was, in fact, someone who was up to shady business, he could stop them. And if it was just an innocent civilian, them no harm would be done. 

So, the teen dropped himself from the roof, softly landing behind the figure moving through the alley. “Can I help you?” he called out as he stepped closer, ready to fight or dodge if he had to. 

The figure in front of him stopped and froze for a second, before they responded. “I do think you can.” There was a distortion in their voice, and it sounded incredibly familiar. Different to Hellfire’s voice, but still… familiar. 

As the person in front of him turned around, Roman really wished that there was some light in this alley, because he could barely see what was happening in front of him, and that was really dangerous if it would come down to a fight. 

The mysterious person in front of him raised their arm, and Roman instinctively raised his hands to create a shield, but before he could, a pulse of electricity sent him a few feet back. The hero felt all air leaving his lungs as he fell onto the ground, harshly, and he rushed to push himself up. The pulse of electricity- it felt exactly like the weapon that Hellfire had used on him several times before. Except it felt way more powerful this time. 

He heard footsteps drawing nearer and quickly jumped to his feet, facing his attacker. The two had backed out of the alley at this point, and Roman saw that… the person in front of him wore the exact same suit that Hellfire had worn. It was updated with some more armour and gadgets, but Roman was positive that this had been Logan’s suit. He would recognize that anywhere. But who-

His thoughts were interrupted when the imitation-Hellfire unsheathed a dagger from its place on the inside of their left arm. Roman noticed this and quickly conjured up a shield to protect himself. Just in time to deflect a first attack. The dagger hit the shield with quite a lot of force. Enough to dent the shield, and to make Roman stumble one step back. The villain managed to take advantage of that by kicking at the other leg, which caused the teen hero to fall back. He dropped his shield in the process, leaving him vulnerable to him opponents attacks. The Hellfire-wannabe could take advantage of this and brought their dagger down, aimed at Roman’s chest. 

The hero rolled to the side, trying to avoid the weapon. And while he did manage to avoid being stabbed in the heart, it still made a cut across his shoulder. But at least he wasn’t dead. 

Roman grabbed his shield and hit it at his opponent’s feet, in the hopes of swiping their legs away. He didn’t completely succeed, but at least they faltered in their stance, which gave him the chance to scramble to his feet and raise his shield. He had no idea what this person wanted, and why they were attacking him like this. They clearly meant to target _ him _specifically. But he wondered why, and what their goal was.

“I don’t know what your endgame is, buddy, but can’t we just… talk about it?” he questioned, taking a few steps back to put some more distance between himself and his opponent. 

“Not a chance,” the other responded as they sheathed their dagger again. Before Roman could respond, they leapt forwards, grabbing the arm that carried the shield. “I’m not much of a talker.” 

Something sharp, like a few tiny claws, digged themselves into Roman’s arm, easily piercing both his suit and his skin, and drawing blood. Creativity hissed and made the shield disappear, before letting it re-appear in his other hand, hitting it against the wrist that restrained him, hoping it would make the opponent let go. 

And it did. Except, before Roman knew what was happening, they had grabbed his throat and easily lifted him, claws digging into his skin. Then, they threw him to the side, into the wall of a house. 

At this point, Roman had no idea what to do. He didn’t know who this was, why they were targeting him, or what they wanted to achieve. He didn’t want to kill them, but he didn’t know how to get rid of them either. This wasn’t like Logan. They really seemed to be after _ him _. So, if he turned and ran, they would follow him. Until they got whatever it was that they wanted. It looked like he’d have to keep fighting and create a diversion that would allow him to get out unseen. Maybe then, he could change his outfit when he was out of sight and get away from here. 

But first- he’d have to get up. 

The teen tried to push himself up so that he could proceed, but before he could even get close, the villain kicked his arm away, causing him to fall to the ground. He just managed to turn his head so that his nose wouldn’t break on contact with the pavement.

Then, they wrapped their hand around his throat and lifted him. The claws on their fingers digged into Roman’s skin, and the hero was secretly terrified that one of them would pierce a major artery and kill him. 

The unknown enemy slammed Roman into the wall behind him and aimed a punch at his face that he could just dodge by turning his head away. He grabbed onto the wrist that was holding him up and tried his best to kick at his attacker, trying to make them let go. Which they didn’t seem to want to do. They pulled their first back and hit Roman in the jaw with a punch that was strong enough to slam his head back into the wall with enough force that he could honestly see stars for a second or two. 

As they held him up, the fake Hellfire brought their other hand closer to themself, looking at him as they brought up some new weapon - or rather… an old one. Once Roman had regained his vision again, he noticed a few spike-like objects shooting out of their suit. Much like a weapon Logan had used on him just a few months prior. Except these stingers seemed to be much bigger than they were the last time Roman saw them. And so much more menacing, too. Sure, it could be the fact that it was a more direct threat than the last time, the fact that someone was actually trying to kill him right now, but the weapon seemed way more threatening than he remembered. 

There was a faint green glow coming from the spikes, caused by something underneath it’s coating. And as the villain pulled back their fist, Roman noticed the glow flickering, before it disappeared completely. (You are very welcome. Uwu.)

Fake-Hellfire looked at the weapon in shock for a second or so, and though it wasn’t long, it was exactly long enough for Roman to land a few kicks that made his opponent stumble back enough so that Roman could get free. Although that did leave him with a few scratch marks on his throat. (Did I really just say uwu? I’m... ashamed of myself.)

Right that moment, before anything else could happen, Roman saw a bright flash of light, and he closed his eyes, fearing that it was one of not-Hellfire’s new gadgets. But the next moment, he fell to the ground. His knees gave in, and the teen hero fell down, managing to catch himself with his hands, before his face smashed into the stones beneath him.

For a few seconds, Roman only saw black spots around him, blinking furiously as he tried to recover from the bright flash of light. It took him a little bit, and at some point during this time, someone walked up to him. Immediately, Roman raised his hands to fight or defend himself, but the stranger chuckled. 

“Don’t worry,” a familiar voice spoke. “It’s just me. I think they’re out for a while.” Roman quickly recognized Prism’s voice and lowered his hands, getting used to the normal light again. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Before the teen could respond, Prism already lifted him bridal style and took off. As they flew up, Roman let out a soft yelp and held on to Prism, just to make sure that he wouldn’t fall down as they soared through the skies. Was this how Virgil felt when he would use his grappling hook to go anywhere? It was pretty… terrifying. 

Though, after a little bit, Roman got used to it, and he started feeling relatively more calm flying like this. It was actually really nice. Why couldn’t _ he _fly? He could get used to this.

It didn’t take long, though. Because soon enough, they reached a roof that Prism deemed safe enough and he landed, setting Roman down gently. “Are you okay?” he asked, crouching down next to the younger hero.

“Just peachy,” he responded as he conjured up a small cloth to get rid of some of the blood that would no doubt be staining his neck. “Thanks. I’m fairly sure they would’ve killed me if you weren’t there.”

He reached up to gently rub his head, which hurt like hell. Everything hurt. He was pretty sure that his back would be completely bruised later. Just like his sides and shoulders. 

“Hey, no worries! That’s the job, right?” Prism responded kindly as he gently took the cloth from Roman’s hands to dab at the small puncture wounds on his neck. “Who were they?”

Roman shook his head. “Don’t know,” he admitted. “I think they knew L- Hellfire. They wore his suit.”

“I thought it looked familiar,” the older hero muttered to himself. “You have any idea what they wanted?”

“Not for sure. I think they wanted to kill me, though. I mean… you saw it yourself. They really would’ve killed me if you didn’t show up.”

“Glad to help,” Prism smiled, now taking care of the cut on Roman’s shoulder. “I can’t have you die, can I?”

“Yeah, I’d prefer not to,” Roman responded weakly, conjuring an ice pack for the back of his head. He finally took a moment to look at the hero before him and noticed something was different about his outfit. “Got rid of the cape?”

Prism chuckled. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “I reasoned you were right. And my eh- teammate did too.” 

“They sound like a very wise person.”

“They are.”

Roman smiled. Even behind the mask covering his entire face, the teen could see that the other hero really appreciated their teammate, whoever they were. Just the mere thought of them seemed to make him happy, and that was utterly adorable. It was pretty much the same for Roman and his friends. They were the best people alive and he just appreciated all their help so incredibly much. 

Prism pulled his hand back, checking to see Roman’s wound. The worst of the bleeding seemed to have stopped, so that was lucky enough. 

“So what do I do with the…” The hero held up the now stained cloth in his hands, which Roman had conjured up out of thin air. 

“Oh, let me just…” Roman nodded to the cloth, letting it disappear into nothingness again. “There. No evidence.”

Prism looked at his hand that held the piece of fabric just moments earlier. Its sudden disappearance seemed to confuse him. “That’s… so weird,” he said with a disbelieving scoff. 

“Said the guy who can fly and shoot beams of light out of his hands,” the younger hero chuckled in return. “We’re actual, real superheroes fighting actual, real villains. Is anything even normal anymore?”

“Fair point,” the other nodded. “I’m still trying to get used to it all.”

“Oh, me too,” Roman admitted. “I’ve been doing this for almost two years and I still haven’t gotten used to it. It just feels too… fake? I guess? Like- this is supposed to happen in comics. Not in real life, you know?”

“Yeah, I know that feeling,” Prism muttered as he rested his hands next to him. “It feels unrealistic.”

“Tell me about it.”

It was quite refreshing to talk to someone who had powers, just like him. Someone he could actually talk to. The only person he’d ever known with powers was his nemesis. And he wasn’t going to sit down with Logan and talk about how crazy it was to have these powers. To have this superhero - or supervillain - life. And yes, he could talk to his friends about this. But they didn’t have powers. They didn’t experience the exact same level of crazy that he did. And Prism had likely gone through the same process of finding out he had powers, trying to control them, trying to live with them. And ultimately, making the decision to become a superhero. His friends hadn’t experienced anything of the matter. 

“Do you think we should meet up?”

Prism blinked for a moment, processing the question that came out of nowhere. “What?”

“You think we should meet up?” Roman repeated his questions. “Just as… us. As people. So we can- I don’t know… get to know each other, share information, team up. I mean- we both want to protect the city, right? Maybe we can help each other out, you know?”

The other hero nodded slowly, going over the suggestion in his head. “That sounds good,” he concluded eventually. “Would it be okay if I brought my teammate along, too? Just because… they do just as much as I do so…”

“Yeah, of course,” Roman confirmed. “As long as I can bring my teammates as well. For the same reason as you.”

Prism chuckled. “Sure thing,” he grinned, “have anything in mind?”

“Not quite, to be fair.”

After a brief discussion, they decided it would be the safest to meet up in public - just… to be sure they were who they said they were and no one would try anything weird. So they’d all meet up for lunch that next weekend to just… talk and get to know the others for real. Assuming that their squads would be able to join them, anyways. If that turned out good and they trusted each other well enough, they could move on somewhere private to discuss more... secret things. 

“Sounds great,” Roman nodded when they had finished. “I should probably get going, though. Can’t risk people getting worried.”

“Of course,” Prism said with a smile. “I’ll see you next week, then.”

“You bet.”

Roman gave the other a slight wave as he walked to the edge of the roof so that he could get off and get back home and rest some before getting some rest. He needed that. And some time to think about what had happened tonight. 


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: injuries, discussion of injuries, and I think that's it. Let me know if I missed anything!

Virgil was the only one of his friends who was present at Roman’s place that day, because Patton was out with his family - and it was only a small mission, so Roman didn’t expect to have many issues, so one friend present felt like enough. It was more of a formality, really. They didn’t have a way of communicating while he was out, so it was more about them being able to help him if he needed them to, and so they could discuss new information he may or may not have learned. 

So when he got back to his room, it was just Virgil sat on his bed while scrolling through something on his phone. He looked up when the hero practically flew inside and closed the window and curtains as quickly as he could to prevent people from seeing him like this. 

“Hey,” Virgil said softly, eyeing Roman with slight worry, “how are you? How did things go?”

“Well, someone tried to kill me so… I’d say things could’ve been better,” he responded as he changed into something more comfortable with a snap of his fingers. “But it was okay. I’m alive.”

“Someone tried to _ what _?” Virgil repeated, his voice seemingly rising an octave. He leaned forwards a bit, staring at his friend worriedly. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Roman admitted as he paced the room slightly - as much as he could with a mattress on the ground, anyways. “There was this… I don’t know. They had Logan’s old suit, but upgraded. And they just- I don’t know. Tried to kill me, like I said.”

“Logan’s suit?” Virgil repeated. “As in- Hellfire, you mean?”

“Yep.”

“Shit, are you okay?” He looked at his friend, clearly worried as all hell. I mean- someone just tried to kill his… boyfriend? Regular friend? Guy he had a crush on and been on a date with and kissed but they hadn’t established their relationship yet? Yeah- that. Someone tried to kill Roman and that was worrying as hell. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m good,” Roman nodded quickly, trying not to worry the other. “I’m good. Prism came in too, he helped me out so…”

Yeah, he was fine. Totally, one hundred percent fine. Although now that he was home, it seemed like the realisation that someone tried to kill him really hit him. And that was- quite a terrifying realisation. Even if he had gotten away alive… he didn’t know how long it would be until their next attempt. And he didn’t know what to do to stop them either. Which wasn’t comforting either. But he didn’t want to dump all of that on Virgil. He was fine. 

“Are you sure?” Virgil narrowed his eyes as Roman sat down next to him. “Wait, what’s that?”

The shirt Roman was wearing had slipped down slightly and Virgil could see the small wounds on Roman’s throat and neck, caused by the villain’s claws. 

“Oh, yeah- they had claws on their fingers. But they didn’t do that much damage, so it’s fine. We took care of them.” He saw the cynical look Virgil gave him and rolled his eyes. “Really! It’s no big deal.”

Obviously, Virgil wasn’t entirely convinced yet. And Roman saw from the look on his face that there was so much he had to say about the topic. But he also knew they were both stubborn little shits and that Roman would not be likely to change his statement. So finally, with a sigh, Virgil shook his head. “Do you know what they wanted?” he asked instead. “Like- why they tried to… you know…”

“Kill me?” Roman finished, saying the words Virgil was clearly hesitant to. “No idea. I didn’t ask.”

“And their identity-”

“Don’t know,” the hero interrupted before the other could even finish his statement. “They used the distortion thing Logan had. Didn’t see them, so…”

“No, I wanted to say… you think it could be Logan’s spouse?” Roman looked up at this statement, frowning slightly. “I mean- it makes sense, right? They could have access to his suit, and I suppose they’d have a reason for revenge.”

“I suppose,” Roman nodded slowly. He really couldn’t think of anyone else who would be capable of something like this. They seemed to know about Logan’s secret identity and didn’t have a lot of issues with it, so maybe… it wasn’t so farfetched? Roman didn’t know them well enough to really know if it was in character for them, but it was a possibility. “They could be. I don’t know. I really don’t. And honestly, I don’t really… care. As long as we can stop them. That’s the most important thing.”

Virgil hummed, but it was clear that he did not agree. “You should probably still do something to disinfect those,” he stated, nodding at the small puncture wounds on Roman’s neck and throat. “And talk to your mom. She’ll want to know you’re back, too.”

“You’re right,” Roman nodded slowly as he shifted. “I should. Eh- be right back?” 

“Sure thing,” the other said. “Want me to text Patton an update about… the situation?”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead,” he confirmed as he walked towards the door. “Also, ask him if he’s free to grab some lunch next weekend. Prism and I planned a meetup.”

“You- what?” 

“I’ll explain later, gotta update my mom first,” Roman grinned as he opened the door and ran out, leaving Virgil behind. He just rolled his eyes and sat back, getting out his phone. Fucking typical behaviour. Roman was one huge mess and Virgil had no idea how he was in love with this guy. He was barely functional as a human being. Let alone as a superhero! It was honestly an achievement that he made it this far.

“Guess who’s back,” Roman called in a sing-song voice as he slid into the living room. “It’s your most favourite son!”

“Roman, you’re okay!” Megan called out with a smile as she saw her son walking in. “I’m so glad you’re back, how are you?”

“Feeling great as ever,” he grinned as he sat down on the couch next to his mom. 

“Are you hurt?” she asked worriedly, immediately noticing the small injuries on his throat. “What is that?”

“Oh that’s nothing,” the hero dismissed quickly. “Bad guy had some claws on their fingers, that’s all. I managed to fight them off. With a little help from that Prism guy. We’re going out for lunch next week, by the way.”

Roman conveniently forgot to tell his mother about the whole thing where the bad guy seemed to want to kill him. She already worried her ass off every time he went out to fight crime anyways. Knowing that someone was out to kill her kid would only make that so much worse. He didn’t want to do that to her. Not right now, at least. Maybe if Virgil forced him to tell her. 

“Where are they now?” Megan asked, raising an eyebrow. “The bad guy?”

“Oh, they- got away,” Roman quickly answered. It wasn’t a complete lie. I mean- they didn’t take them to the police or anything, so… yeah. They got away. “But we’ll catch them the next time around, I’m sure of it.”

“As long as you’re careful.” Megan brushed a strand of loose hair out of Roman’s face. “I don’t want you getting yourself into trouble.”

That comment was just about two years too late, but Roman appreciated the sentiment. Even if both of them knew that he would literally get himself into trouble the first chance he got. Because Roman Palmer was a dumbass like that. 

Especially when someone seemingly wanted him gone. 

“You know I can’t promise that.”

“As long as you’ll try.”

Romman nodded. “Of course,” he said quickly. Of course; he always did. It just… didn’t often work out well. But at least he tried.

“Good,” Megan said with a small smile. She looked at her son for just a few moments longer, and it was clear that she wanted to say more. There was so much more she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how to say an of it. Not without sounding like an overprotective mother. A part of her wanted to tell Roman to stop this. To give up Creativity so she could stop worrying about her son’s safety every single day. But she knew that she couldn’t do that. Even if Roman could give up his double life, she knew he would be restless. It wouldn’t be right. It would feel selfish to ask her son to give up something that clearly meant so much to him, just so she could sleep at night. “So… you’re having lunch with Prism? Is that what you said?”

Roman blinked, taking a second to process the sudden change in tone and topic. “Oh- eh, yeah,” he stammered slightly. “And his teammate, apparently. If they can come. I’m taking Pat and V with me as well, if they’re free, anyways.”

“Oh, I see,” Megan nodded. “Exciting?”

“I guess so,” Roman said with a light shrug. He honestly didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know Prism that well so… it could turn out to be a giant mistake. But it could turn out great. Roman just hoped they could arrange things so they could work together and split the burden of being heroes. “If we think it will work out, we might team up, too. So that would be nice.”

“And you think you can trust this… Prism?”

“I mean, he’s a hero, so… I think so,” the teen admitted. Of course, he could turn out to be a total asshole in real life, but he doubted this. After all, this_ was _someone who was committed to protecting the city, and who saved Roman more than once. How could someone like that be an asshole? “And I’m not going in alone, so if he does turn out to be a douchebag, I’ll have back-up.” 

Hopefully. Virgil and Patton hadn’t confirmed that they would be going, but Roman had good hope that at least one of them could join him. 

“If you’re so sure,” his mom hummed. “As long as you’re careful.”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll have to take that, huh?” she asked with a fond smile at her son. She would be lying if she said that she wasn’t proud of her son for doing anything he could to protect this city, but that didn’t stop her from worrying every waking moment. 

“I should get back to Virge,” he said after a few moments. “And get some rest because… fighting crime is hard.”

“Don’t forget to shower,” Megan reminded Roman when he got up. 

Roman nodded. “And shower, gotcha.”

“Sleep well, sweetie,” she smiled. 

“You too,” Roman told her with a smile before he left the room. “Love you.”

He walked upstairs and to his room, where Virgil was still sitting on his bed. It seemed as if he hadn’t moved an inch since Roman had left him behind. 

“I’m back,” he grinned, dropping down onto the bed beside Virgil. Which was a great mistake, seeing as he fell on his shoulder. The cut obviously hadn’t had enough time to heal yet, so… yeah that hurt. He didn’t show it, though. Virgil worried enough; he could take care of this one cut himself. It wasn’t anything big anyways. “How’s Patton?”

“Worried as shit, obviously,” Virgil huffed, locking eyes with the other. “And what was that crap about a meeting next weekend?

“”Oh, yeah!” Roman pushed himself up so he was leaning on his forearms. “Prism and I wanna meet up, see if we can work things out to work together. So we wanna go out for lunch next Saturday. He’ll make a reservation so we can meet, and if we think we can handle it, we can go somewhere more secret to discuss the hero stuff. He said he’s asking his teammate to join, so I thought- only fair if I ask mine, right?”

“And you’re sure it’s safe?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking you guys! And besides, I’m a superhero, I can handle myself.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “So is he, right?”

“Yeah, but I’ve got more experience,” Roman voiced, “duh. I can handle it. But I’m sure it’s fine, he seems chill enough. I mean- he saved my ass twice, so… I think it’s fine.”

“You better be right,” Virgil muttered. “We’re both coming, though. Patton and I. So else you’re dragging us down with you.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” the other shrugged. “But if I’m wrong, you’re legally permitted to kill me. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Roman grinned as he pushed himself up. “Awesome. Now, I should take a shower before my mom kills me, so… I’ll be right back.” He quickly kissed Virgil’s cheek, grabbed his pyjamas and ran out of the room before the other could say anything else. 

He took a brief shower and took care of the injuries on his neck and shoulder. The slash on his shoulder, he bandaged, but he left the small ones on his neck free. They'd heal soon enough, and it was waiter to cover them up without bandages. 

As soon as all of that was done, Roman returned to his bedroom, where Virgil had taken the time to change into something more comfortable, as he would be staying for the night as well. It was a fairly easy way of covering up the real reason that Virgil was here, after all. 

“We really need to start thinking about a way to pick up the trail of the particle,” Roman spoke up as he walked back into the room, stretching his arms a bit to get rid of the vague soreness. 

“So you’ve said,” Virgil nodded as he looked up at the other. Clearly, he wasn’t too enthusiastic about the thought. “But we still haven’t made any progress. They’re clever.”

“Yeah, no shit. That’s why I wanna start working on it as soon as possible,” the young hero scoffed. “Before they find a way to completely erase their tracks. I might just go on a few patrols the next few days to see if I can pick up on any suspicious behaviour. It’s not much, but…”

“Are you sure?” Virgil asked hesitantly. He leaned forwards a bit and locked eyes with Roman. “I mean… you’ve tried once and it didn’t work out. Now they know how far you’ve gotten, and they’re only going to up their efforts to stay hidden. And with this guy possibly trying to kill you…”

“I’ll be fine,” Roman quickly dismissed, dropping his arms to his sides as he did so. “I can deal with all of that, I just don’t want things to get out of hand. They are most definitely using the particle to give themselves powers, and I think they’re using it on other things as well. We have to intervene as soon as possible before they become an entire gang of superpowered beings, because at that point, no one will be able to do anything about it anymore!”

“But still-”

“And there’s Prism,” he rushed out, “he can help me, as well. I’m not completely alone in this.” He sat down next to Virgil, crossing his legs. “I’m sorry, what were you gonna say?”

“It’s just…” Virgil shook his head with a deep breath. “I worry, okay? I don’t want you to get injured, or worse. And with this… _ guy _out there as well... I don’t want you to… get yourself into something that’s too big for you to handle.”

Roman scoffed softly. “When have I ever done that?”

“Hellfire,” Virgil said with a raised eyebrow. “You couldn’t handle that. Not really. You know it was way too much for you. He could have killed you if he wanted.”

Okay, that was something Roman couldn’t argue with, no matter how much he wanted to. Logan was way too good for him and the only reason he was even here right now, was because of Logan’s weird moral code that means he didn’t kill Roman - even if he had more than enough chances to do so. And Roman just… _ defeated _him because of a dumb mistake. It wasn’t even intentional. 

“But I’m training,” he shrugged. “And if all goes right, I’ll have Prism on my side as well. And you guys.”

“We can’t help you fight, though. We’re just… backup.”

Roman sighed, running a hand through his hair. He knew that Virgil was right, and he knew that he would feel the same if the roles were reversed, but that didn’t stop him from being at least a little bit frustrated. It was his job to protect this town, and Blackbird’s gang was a growing threat. If no one intervened, it could be a catastrophe. And right now, there were only two people who could do something about this. So yeah, of course Roman wanted to continue. 

But he didn’t want to argue about it right now. He just wanted to spend some time with Virgil and relax. Maybe he did need some rest for the night. Almost getting killed did tend to wear one out.

“Can we discuss this later?” he asked softly, leaning against Virgil a bit. “Just relax now and go over this… another time?” He closed his eyes and rested his head on Virgil’s shoulder, thinking that he could really fall asleep right now. Not just because he was exhausted now that had actually had the time to sit down and relax, but also because it was surprisingly comfortable. Virgil was just… comfortable to lean on. 

“Of course,” Virgil said with a soft chuckle at Roman’s state. He wrapped an arm around the other, kissing the top of his head. “You should get some rest, too.”

Roman hummed softly, but didn’t respond. He was way too comfortable to really say anything right now. 

With a fond smile, Virgil released Roman from his hold and got up. Roman whined softly, which just made the other grin even more broadly. “Come on, you should sleep,” he said gently. “And I’m literally next to you, so...”

“Fine,” the hero pouted. “Because it’s you.”

“Thank you,” Virgil chuckled as he sat down on the mattress next to Roman’s bed. “Want me to turn off the light?”

Roman made another soft whining sound, mumbling out a soft “Wait.” He then leaned in a little bit and carefully kissed Virgil. “Now you can.”

“Idiot,” the other murmured with an amused smile at Roman. He still got up and turned off the light, covering the room in darkness. It wasn’t hard to find his way back to the mattress - mostly because the light switch was literally just a few steps away - and sit down on the mattress, looking at the vague outline of Roman, who had already laid down on his bed. “Sleep well.”

Roman’s response was barely audible - he was clearly almost sleeping already - but it was clear enough for Virgil. And strangely adorable, too. With a smile, Virgil laid down himself and pulled the blankets over himself, falling asleep quite quickly. 


	5. Chapter 4

** _You’re my closet friends🌈:_ **

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ I saw a video of last night _

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ It looked bad, Ro. You okay? _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ Wait thered footage? _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ But yeah Im okay _

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ Yeah someone saw it from their hoise _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ Sore but okar _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ Oh shit rlly _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ Damn okay _

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ But are you sure you’re good, Roman? I mean- if V was right… _

** _[Roman]:_ ** _ Yeah yeah im goid! Trust me _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ I can hamdle mydelf Pat _

** _[Patton]:_ ** _ I know but I’m just worried. This guy seems dangerous _

** _[Roman]:_ ** _ Welk so am I (: _

** _[Virgil]: _ ** _ no offense but you literally wouldnt harm a fly _

** _[Roman]:_ ** _ Fuck off _

** _[Virgil]: _ ** _ im right n you know it _

** _[Roman]:_ ** _ Youre not _

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ He… kinda is _

** _[Roman]:_ ** _ :/// _

** _[Patton]: _ ** _ Just… stay safe, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt _

** _[Roman]: _ ** _ Ugh ill do my beeeeest _


	6. Chapter 5

At school, Roman noticed that Emile seemed to avoid him. Not like he hadn’t avoided Roman the week before that, but it really felt as if he didn’t _ want _to be around him or his friends, even more than before. It felt bad and just really uncomfortable, but Roman respected his wishes to give him some space. Even if it felt wrong in every conceivable way. Roman just wanted to apologise and talk about what happened, but… if Emile didn’t want him to, Emile didn’t want him to. Sure. It still felt bad, but… he could wait. 

During class, Roman found himself quite unable to concentrate. He was never good at focussing, but now, it was even worse. Not just because of the thing with Emile, but them chasing the gang was a big distraction as well. Roman really felt responsible for taking them down before anything big happened, and with all of their progress lost… they really needed to step up their game to make sure that they would succeed. And it was all Roman could seem to think about, even if he really needed to focus on his classes instead. But really… getting some okay grades or saving the city from a potential catastrofe; what was more important? Roman knew where his priorities were. 

After his two first classes, Roman met up with Virgil and Patton for lunch, as usual. It was nearing autumn at this point, and the weather was getting colder and colder but as of now, it was still nice enough to survive outside. At least for the thirty minutes of lunch. The three knew that they’d have to find a good spot for lunch later in the month, probably. Somewhere where it wasn’t so loud and crowded. The library was probably a good option, if they could eat there without like- getting yelled at or whatever, obviously. Either way, it had to be some place where they could sit in peace - mostly for Virgil’s comfort - and discuss their Creativity-business in private. But so far, they had really one option ready. At least they still had a bit of time before it came to that. 

“Okay, spill,” Virgil said as he sat down at their table, next to Roman. “You’ve been distracted all day. What’s going on?”

Roman looked up at him as Patton softly agreed. It really wasn’t hard to see that Roman’s thoughts were pretty much all over the place. Especially not for the guy who had known him since kindergarten, basically. “Oh, eh-” he stammered slightly as he scooted to the side a bit. “I’m just… thinking. Trying to figure out how to trace the gang again.”

Virgil nodded, seemingly not even surprised with this. He had probably expected this answer. Because even if he didn’t know Roman as long as Patton had, but he still knew him pretty well. But to be fair, he wasn’t too hard to figure out either. Especially when it came to his priorities and his Creativity-business. He wanted to do anything he could to help pretty much everyone he could, and if he couldn’t help literally everyone, he’d beat himself up over it for as long as he would remember it. So of course he would be thinking about the gang, about trying to take them down. It was only in character for him. 

“Of course,” he muttered softly, giving Roman a look. “Maybe you should wait? We can discuss it this Saturday, you know… when we’re meeting up with Prism. You guys can work together on working this out, I mean- with Blackbird’s powers and his… things might be easier, you know?”

“Yeah, and we should just… do some research, try to find a good starting point,” Patton jumped in with a nod, “and maybe if we wait a bit, they’ll think you lost their trail and let down their security a bit, so it’ll be easier to inflitrate again.”

“But if we wait too long, they could level the town,” Roman countered. “Even scientists don’t know everything there is to know about the particle. Every day we wait, could give them more knowledge about it. And in the wrong hands, it could do a lot of bad things. I don’t want to be the cause of the Apocalypse.”

“I don’t think it’ll be_ that _bad,” Patton tried gently. “It’s only a week. We can wait a week. They’re not going to destroy the Earth in that one week.”

“Not anymore than we already are, anyways,” Virgil muttered under his breath, eliciting a soft snort from Roman. 

He stayed silent, looking between his friends for a few moments. They had a point, they really did. But what if this week off would give the gang all the time they needed to prepare some… big weapon, experiment or- or anything else? A whole week could easily make a difference between a disaster and a victory for him. But they did have a point. Tracking the gang the first time had been difficult enough for them. Now that Roman had gotten so close to getting what he needed, they would certainly put more effort into staying hidden. Maybe getting some help from Prism was what they needed. 

“Fine,” he huffed reluctantly. “But only this once.”

“Good,” Virgil nodded, “we should also figure out what to do about this fake Hellfire before they… you know…”

“I just gotta defeat them and get the police on their ass,” Roman said, leaning on the table before him. “I don’t think there’s anything else to do, right?”

“And how do you wanna do that? If they’re really after you, I don’t think it would be that easy.”

Roman shrugged. “I just have to figure out their tactics and base my ideas on that,” he said simply, as if it was the easiest task in the world. “It’ll take a bit of time, but I can defend myself.”

He knew was downplaying this issue a lot. If this villain wanted him dead - which he was pretty damn sure of already - it really wouldn’t be easy. He _ wanted _ to believe that he could pull this off. That he could defend himself well enough to live and make sure that whoever was behind the mask would end up in jail before _ he _ would end up dead, but the truth is… he just wasn’t sure. Virgil was right; he had enough trouble fighting Logan, and _ he _didn’t even want him dead. This time around, the stakes were so much higher and Roman didn’t know for sure that he was good enough. But he wasn’t going to tell his friends that. They already worried just because of this instance of someone trying to kill him. If he showed how much it really affected him - even if it was just one time - they would really freak out. And Roman didn’t want that. They didn’t deserve that. He could handle himself. Especially if they got Prism on their side. It was just a matter of time. He would handle this. 

“Are you sure?” Virgil asked with a slight frown.

“Damn sure.”

Even though Virgil humed in response to this statement, it was clear that he didn’t believe this. “Just… be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I will,” Roman said, for what felt like the millionth time ever since he revealed his double identity to Virgil. “Don’t worry. I’m just gonna patrol a bit this week and try not to get killed. And if they do show up, I’ll be ready for them.”

Virgil hesitated for just a second or two, giving the hero a doubtful look before he finally turned back to his lunch. “I really hope you’re right.”

The rest of lunch - and the school day as well - Roman tried to avoid the topic altogether. If he was was being honest, the whole situation really did scare him. He was terrified of actually dying at the hands of this… whoever they were. And with the added pressure of wanting to find the gang, and the memory of Logan’s death still nagging him every other day… that was a lot of stress, and he did not want to think of it. But the harder he tried to avoid it, the more he was reminded of the exact things he did not want to be reminded of. Which did really suck. And this was one of the few times that Roman almost wished he hadn’t started this whole superhero business. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have to stress about being a murderer, about someone trying to kill him, about trying to track down a gang that could potentially be horribly dangerous. He wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. And even though Roman wouldn’t give up his superhero life for the world, it sounded nearly blissful right now. At least his life wouldn’t be endangered right now. 

For once, he went back home immediately after school, deciding to spend a little bit of time at home instead of patrolling the city. Hopefully, if anything did happen in his absence, Prism would there for it. He just wanted to spend a little bit of time at home - and just maybe, he stayed home to make sure he would stay out of not-quite-Hellfire’s way. In all honesty, Roman wasn’t sure he could keep up if he had to face them again. And in any way, he wasn’t eager to find out either. 

So, he decided to take the easy way and went back home for the day. Spending some time with his family wasn’t a bad thing either, he reasoned. Maybe it was the thing he needed right now. Creativity could wait a day or two longer. 

When Roman came back home, Megan and Sophie were in the kitchen. Sophie was excitedly chatting about something that she saw at school while Megan grabbed herself some tea. They both were too busy with their conversation, so Roman just dropped his bag next to the couch and sat down, yelling to them that he was back home. Only then did Megan walk out of the kitchen to greet her son in surprise, Sophie trailing behind as she finished her story. 

“I didn’t know you’d come back home so soon,” Megan responded as she sat down next to Roman. 

“Wasn’t planning to,” he admitted, “V and Pat pretty much told me to not do anything dumb because of-” He halted in his tracks as he realised that he was going to mention the guy trying to kill him, who he had very much not talked about to his family. So that was a big no. He did not want to get into it, and especially not now. Some other time. “Because of the gang, you know? They don’t want me to rush back in now that they probably know I’m after them. They’ll be more on guard and stuff- they just want me to wait until we meet Prism over the weekend so we can work it out together.”

There. Nailed it. And it wasn’t even a lie! Not a complete lie, anyways. They did tell him that, after all. 

Megan nodded. They had a point. There was a pretty big chance that Roman would have done something stupid to get himself hurt at some point. She was just glad that Patton and most of all Virgil were there to make sure he didn’t. They were so much better at keeping Roman in check than she was - especially Virgil. Not that Roman didn’t listen to what she had to say, but there was something about Virgil that it made it so much easier to convince Roman to stop for a moment and think. And Megan knew exactly what it was - not that it was so difficult to figure out. After all, probably everyone could see how incredibly gay Roman was for Virgil. That wasn’t even close to being a question. He just was. 

“You’re meeting them?” Sophie asked with wide eyes as she jumped on the couch next to her brother. “That’s so cool!”

“I am,” Roman confirmed with a chuckle. “And if all goes well, we’ll be working together, too.”

“That’s awesome,” Sophie gushed with a broad grin. Ever since his first appearance at the warehouse about two weeks ago, Prism had started showing his face more and more, and people were noticing it. Especially since Creativity was a well-established hero at this point, anything out of the ordinary tended to gain traction. So as soon as people were starting to notice another masked hero protecting the city, you bet the audiences would latch onto this new character as soon as possible. Especially Sophie, who already loved Creativity - and probably even more since she found out that it was her very own brother behind the mask. 

“I sure hope it is,” he just commented in response. “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

“You gotta tell me about it,” Sophie insisted, looking at Roman, “okay?”

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer just a little bit. “You’ll be the first one I tell about it, deal?”

Sophie nodded, seemingly content with this deal, and cuddled a little bit closer to him. “Can you tell me a story tonight?”

“Of course,” he nodded gently. “Got any preferences, milady?”

She shrugged slightly, taking a moment or two to think about it. “Maybe Creativity?” she suggested carefully, as if she feared it was the wrong answer. “Or the princesses, I don’t know. Both sound good.”

Roman didn’t speak up immediately, but just gave another short nod, his brain immediately racing to get to a good story that she would like. “I think I can work with that,” he smiled down at her. “I can do that.”

This answer seemed to be satisfying enough for Sophie and she nodded with a grin, going back to her own business not much later. 

The story he ended up telling her was a team-up between the gay princess knights and Creativity, fighting an evil army that had taken over a country and oppressed its citizens. The first half of it, anyways. Roman promised his sister that he would tell her the second part the next night. But it was getting late now, and she really had to go to sleep. 

And as expected, this earned him a few pouts and glares. Though at this point, Roman was pretty sure that at least half of it was an act. After all, she really could have seen that coming. He did it pretty much every time. 

“Don’t give me that look,” he chuckled as he saw her frown, “I’ll finish it tomorrow, deal?”

Sophie sighed, giving Roman a small frown. “Why can’t you finish it now?” She tried one more time, causing her brother to chuckle once more as he ruffled her hair. 

“It’s getting late, pipsqueak,” he told her, “you need to sleep. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

This caused the little girl to frown once more, but she finally conceded. “Promise?”

“Of course,” he smiled, kissing her forehead softly. “Promise. Now… go to sleep, yeah?”

Sophie nodded, maybe just a little reluctantly. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Roman said as he got up again. “Sleep well, pipsqueak.”

“Sleep well,” she responded, gripping her stuffed cat tightly as she laid down. “Love you.”

“I love you too, little one” her brother answered as he turned off the light in her bedroom, before leaving.


	7. Chapter 6

Soon enough, it was the next weekend. On Saturday, Roman and the others would meet up with Prism, like arranged. The week before, the two heroes decided to meet for lunch at Little France, a small cafe in the centre of town. Prism had made a reservation, so they could easily find out who to meet up with without being afraid of giving away their secret identities. 

The three of them met up just in front of the cafe, so they could get in together with the three of them. 

“Well, here we are,” Virgil said as he arrived, the last of the three of them. “This better be the right call, Palmer.”

He jokingly nudged Roman’s shoulder with his own, giving him a big grin that made Roman’s gay heart beat a little faster. 

“Hey that’s why you are here, right?” Roman shot back quickly. “To protect me if it isn’t?”

Virgil scoffed. “You wish.”

“You bet I do,” the hero grinned. “Shall we go inside then?”

“Sure thing!” Patton nodded enthusiastically. 

“Let’s go meet our doom,” Virgil shrugged, even though his grin showed that he did not mean this statement. 

Roman rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at Virgil, before walking to the door to the cafe and pushing it open. Pretty much as soon as the three of them stepped inside, a waitress came up to them with a smile. 

“Good afternoon,” she greeted them, “can I help you?”

“Eh, yes, we had a reservation,” Roman answered with a nod. “It should be Sanders?”

The waitress nodded and walked back to a book on the counter. “Let me see… Sanders, reservation for five, right?”

“That’s the one.”

“Alright, the others of your group are already here, I’ll take you to them,” she told them as she grabbed a couple of menus on the way. “Follow me.”

She took them into the cafe, past a few people who were having their own lunch, and Roman couldn’t help but notice that he was pretty nervous. He had no idea who this Prism really was, and now they were about to meet and that was a pretty weird and nerve-wracking thought. He wondered who of these people was Prism. 

The waitress stopped at a little booth at one of the windows near the back of the cafe. Two people were already sat there, talking to each other. When the waitress and the three teens approached, though, they stopped and looked up at who had just joined. Roman couldn’t help but think that the guy next to the window looked awfully familiar, but he didn’t quite remember how he would know him. 

“Here you are,” she smiled as the three teens sat down - Roman first, followed by Virgil and Patton. When the three teens were seated, and had finished their thanks, she handed all five people a menu and, when all of that was done, she left to let the five of them go their own way.

“So,” the familiar guy next to the window spoke up, “guessing an introduction is due, so… I’m Thomas, this is my best friend and teammate Joan.” He gestured to the person next to him, who gave them a smile and quick wave. Roman guessed that this Thomas guy was Prism then, if he introduced Joan as his teammate. 

“You’re a youtuber, right?” Patton asked carefully. “I don’t wanna be that guy, but… that is you, right?”

Thomas nodded with a chuckle. “That’s me,” he confirmed. 

The moment that Patton mentioned youtube, Roman remembered why this face was so familiar and why his voice had sounded so familiar. He wasn’t subscribed to Thomas or watched every single upload, but he had seen a few videos of his - mostly videos that Patton had sent him. 

“Oh, that’s why you’re so familiar,” he said softly, “yeah, that adds up. I’m Roman, by the way. And that’s my friend, Patton, and my… Virgil. My teammates.”

“My Virgil?” aforementioned Virgil repeated with an eyebrow raise. 

“I said what I said,” Roman said quickly, wanting to brush over the fact that he didn’t know what to call Virgil, who just chuckled and teasingly nudged Roman’s side. “Shut up.”

Thomas chuckled as he looked at the three teens. “Well, it’s nice to meet you guys. Though I must admit, I thought you’d be at least a bit older.”

“Yeah, I can’t blame you,” Roman admitted as he picked up the menu before him. “I hadn’t expected you to be… famous, so I guess we’re both surprised, huh?”

Thomas looked like he was about to protest something for a second, but he just shook his head and let it go. “Guess we are,” he agreed, “how have you been?”

“Not bad,” the teen responded. “Busy with school, and trying to figure out how to locate the.. you know… gang, but these two have been forcing me to take a break so…” 

“Oh, is he as annoying to keep in as Thomas is?” Joan asked Virgil and Patton with a slight grin. 

“The absolute worst,” Virgil confirmed. “We keep telling him to take a break, but he rarely listens.”

Roman scoffed. “Well, I’m listening now, right?”

“Yeah, barely. We’re one step away from tying you down.”

Joan shook their head with a chuckle. “Yeah, I know a story of two about that,” they said with a grin at Thomas, who just shook his head with a barely concealed smile. 

The first half of their meeting was spent just… talking. Mostly about things unrelated to their secret identities - for safety, most of all. The five just wanted to get to know each other, see if they got along well before deciding if they wanted to work together or not. 

Thomas, as mentioned before was a YouTuber, which is what he usually earned his money with - the videos, selling merch, sponsorships. He also had a fond love of theatre and music, something which Roman could instantly relate to, and he had done a few projects involving at least one of the two. Joan, on the other hand, worked at Rant-In; one of the biggest tech companies of the moment. They were incredible with anything technology - clearly, since they had a job at the biggest company in that field - which was also a big advantage for a superhero team. Team Creativity was missing one of those.

Luckily, the two groups clicked quite well, and after their lunch - which Thomas _ insisted _on paying, even if the others kept saying they’d at the very least pay a part of the bill - they decided to go somewhere more private, so they could discuss the things that they did not want to discuss in public. So, they went back to Thomas’ house, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything weird. 

They just all managed to get into Thomas’ car, the three teens a little squished in the backseat, but it wouldn’t be very long anyways, so that was no issue there. They’d survive it. 

Eventually, they arrived at a small house on the edge of the city. Thomas let them inside with a smile. As everyone stepped into the small hallway of the house, he closed the front door.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” he grinned. “I would love to show you the downstairs, but I’m afraid that’s a work in progress, so the living room will just have to do for now.”

Roman tilted his head as he followed Thomas to the door leading to the living room. “What’s downstairs, then?”

“Not much yet,” Thomas explained, looking back at the teen as he opened the door, “right now, it’s just where I keep my suit and some of Joan’s tech designs. But I wanna work on making it more… I don’t know, official? Office-y? I just wanna do something with it, you know? I feel like we should be able to do something with it.”

“Ooh, that sounds great, “ Roman nodded enthusiastically. “So official.”

He followed Thomas to the living room and sat down on one of the two chairs there, looking around. Meanwhile, Virgil swiveled around to look at Joan, still taking a few steps back. 

“Did he say tech?” he asked curiously, looking at them. 

“Yeah,” they nodded, “I- I try some things here and there.”

“That’s nonsense,” Thomas called from his spot on the couch, “they have the most amazing ideas and designs, they’re incredible. I’m telling you.”

Joan scoffed as they pushed past Virgil and Patton to sit down on the couch next to Thomas. “Don’t take his word for it,” they dismissed. “He likes to exaggerate.”

“No, no, _ do _ take my word for it,” Thomas argued with a playful glare at his friend. “I’m telling the truth, they’re amazing. They work at Rant-In, I mean… they’re _ good _ good. They don’t just hire anyone.”

Virgil chuckled at the small argument the two friends had as he sat down on the remaining chair, while Patton sat down on the other side of Thomas. 

“Oh, can I get you guys anything?” Thomas asked suddenly. “Sorry, forgot my manners right there.”

But before he could even start to think about listing what he had to offer, the three teens politely refused his offer. After all, they just came back from lunch. They’d had enough for now. 

“So… we can discuss confidential stuff here, right?” Roman asked, pulling his feet up on his chair. “Cause I do have some questions.”

“Of course,” Thomas promised, “you can trust me.”

Roman bit his lip. “You better be right,” he said with a small smile. “The thing is… I’ve been trying to think of ways of finding Blackbird’s gang again. The first time took me so much effort and I messed it up now, and now I don’t know how to pick up the trail again. But you managed to find them too. So… how did you do that?”

“Honestly… that’s a weird story,” the other hero said with s slight scoff. He rubbed his arm as he tried to remember everything exactly. “Basically… I’d been trying to find them for a while. I had suspected something was going on ever since- when was it… I don’t know if you remember, but a while back, there were a few guys in an alley, following someone when you jumped in?”

Roman nodded, remembering that night all to well. Or rather… the beginning of the night, as well as the events after waking up at Logan’s place. Everything in between was blurry and vague. “Yeah, and then they drugged me, and someone appeared and told me to- wait…” He paused, sitting up a little bit straighter as he looked at Thomas. “That was you? Who told me to get out? I know there was a flash of light, but I thought it was like… an hallucination.”

“Nope,” Thomas said with a shake of his head. “That was me.”

“Damn, I owe you more than I thought,” Roman said with a snort. “You saved my life back there. I didn’t even know…”

“I just did what I had to,” Thomas shrugged, “and from that day I was sure something was going on. They had to have some sort of plan. I don’t know, but I didn’t trust it. That’s pretty much what made me… want to be Prism, you know? And I tried to work things out, what they wanted, where they’d hide, but I didn’t know how to figure all that out for sure. I discussed things with Joan, did some surveilling, and I _ knew _something shady was happening, but I could never trace it somewhere. And on the day that I met you in that warehouse… I don’t know. I wasn’t even actively looking for something, or trying to find them. But I just… had this hunch. I was almost like- like there was some voice in my head that wasn’t my own, telling me to go to this one warehouse. So, I called Joan, got dressed, and just… went for it. And I suppose it was the right call to make, cause that’s where you were.”

“And thank God for that, cause you made my life a whole lot easier,” the teen said with a small smile. Though he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Thomas didn’t have any leads to find the gang again. Nothing concrete, anyways. He’d just have to search old warehouses - cause let’s be real, that’s where shady gangs always hid their super secret lairs, right? 

“I try my best,” Thomas grinned. “I’m sorry I don’t really have anything to help you, though.”

Roman brushed it off with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry about it. But maybe you can help me finding it again? We can do more if we work together.” 

“Of course,” he promised. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

At the very least, that was a relief. Roman was glad to have someone to split the work with. Now, it felt like he wasn’t as responsible for the fate of this city. There was someone else to help him out if he failed. 

“Hey, do you have anything new on that guy you fought last week?” Thomas asked suddenly, looking back at Roman. 

“The Copycat,” Joan added. “That’s what people online are calling them.”

“Copycat?” Roman repeated, completely oblivious to the nickname people had already made up. He knew some people had managed to capture some of the moments of the fight that happened literally outside their house, but he had no idea that there was already a name for the new villain. _ He _didn’t even have a name for them yet.

“I’m guessing it’s because they look like Hellfire?” 

The teen nodded. “Makes sense, I guess. Probably the most original we’re gonna get anyways,” he commented. “I don’t know shit, though. Virgil theorized it might be Remy, Hellfire’s spouse. They have a motive, and they have access to his suit. So that would make sense. But I’ve got nothing else to go on. For all we know it could be Emile, his son. But I don’t think he’d be capable of doing something like that.” Even if he had been acting aloof lately, it was probably merely the fact that his father died. That alone was more than enough reason to act strange. Let alone the fact that one of his classmates was the reason.

“You have any idea what to do about them?” the other hero questioned. 

“Not in the slightest,” Roman scoffed, dismissing his issues once more. “Try not to get killed, fight them, and try to get them arrested, probably. They don’t have any powers, so that’s a good thing. I just need to find a way to work around all their tech.”

Which was easier said than done, but Roman didn’t want anyone to worry. So he brushed it off as if it was nothing. I mean… he managed to keep up with Logan as well, right? So why wouldn’t he be able to do it now? He just had to get used to their fighting manners and figure out how to defend himself against that. If he would even live so far, obviously. 

“Can I trust that you’ll be there to help me out with that?” he continued, tilting his head at Thomas. If it was the two of them against one… that would make his life a whole lot easier. Together, they would have to win at some point. 

To his relief, Thomas nodded immediately. “Of course!” he promised. “We gotta help each other, right? I’ve got your back, whenever you need help.”

“Good,” Roman said with a small smile. “That’s good to know, at least.” A little confirmation at the very least. That was something. 

The five of them chatted for a while after that. Part of it was about the superhero business, but a lot of it had nothing to do with it at all and was more them getting to know each other. Things about themselves, lives, things that had nothing to do with any of them. So, it was easy to say that they got along quite well. Especially Roman and Thomas seemed to click - which is a good thing, seeing as the two of them would be around each other a lot, and getting along would be nice. Trust, too. And that seemed to be no issue with them. 

Eventually, it was getting late and the teens had to go home again. But not before the five of them had exchanged phone numbers and made a group chat, for convenience’s sake. Also a little bit for the fun of it, but mostly because it was way easier to contact someone in case of an emergency. I mean… of course it was fun to be able to talk to them so easily, but if anything happened, or anyone found something of interest, it would be easy to reach the entire team. Cause that’s what they were now, they’d decided. A team.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow finally an update from me, what a shocker hahah. I've been very busy with Big Bang things, so I haven't worked on other fics as much but here's finally a new chapter. I... hope it's any good ahh
> 
> Warnings: Fighting, injuries, blood, mention of murder. I think that's it?

Two weeks had passed since that meeting, and both Roman and Thomas had done their best to pick up the track that would lead them to Blackbird’s gang, but nothing would work. Sure, they’d occasionally find a few of its members, but following them didn’t lead to anything big. There was never anything to lead them to their lair, to the particle. No new leads. 

Virgil had noticed Roman was stressing himself out too much over this - this and the whole Emile-situation, which hadn’t changed a thing since the beginning of the school year, as well as him stressing over the Copycat - so he decided to take him out. Nothing too big, just lunch and a movie. Just a little something to take his mind off of everything that had been going on lately. He needed some time off. 

It was clear that Roman wasn’t completely at ease during the beginning of their date. He was fidgety and on guard, like he was afraid to miss something or mess up somehow. And it wasn’t completely unimaginable. Virgil knew that he was stressed about the whole situation with the Copycat, even if he didn’t want to show it to anyone; Virgil knew Roman better than he thought. Even though the Copycat hadn’t shown up since their initial attack three weeks ago, there was a very good chance they might show their face again. Especially if their theory about them wanting to kill Roman was correct. 

But, throughout their lunch, the teen relaxed a little bit, feeling comfortable enough to lower his guard at least a little bit. The two of them chatted and laughed, and when Virgil had paid the bill - something he had insisted on; this was supposed to be a treat for Roman, after all - they headed out and went to the movie. The cinema wasn’t far from the lunchroom where they’d had their lunch, so the couple decided to walk there. It gave them the chance to talk some while enjoying the weather before autumn would sweep in. Maybe the perfect kind of weather, if you asked Roman.

“Hey, you wanna hang out for a bit more?” Virgil suggested when they stepped out of the cinema. “Sit somewhere, maybe have a drink or so? Just something lowkey?”

Roman grinned as he grabbed one of Virgil’s hands in his. “You know I could never say no to spending more time with you,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the back of the hand he was holding in his. “So… duh.”

Virgil chuckled at the response and shook his head. “You could’ve just said yes,” he said softly, unsure how to respond to this statement. Roman was so dramatic, and Virgil… really was not equipped to deal with that properly. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” the other scoffed as he pulled his date along. “Your reaction to this is way better.”

As a form of response, Virgil just stuck out his tongue. “Do you have any idea where you wanna go?” he asked, deciding to quickly change the subject. 

“Oh, yeah,” Roman nodded, immediately distracted by this question. “I was at work the other day, and I heard there’s this new cafe in town, we could try that one out? I think we should be able to walk it from here. If you’re cool with that.”

“Sounds good,” the older teen agreed. “I’m very cool with that.”

Roman smiled excitedly. “Awesome,” he grinned. “I think we gotta go… here.” He pulled Virgil with him into an alley in the direction of the city centre. 

Except, they didn’t make it to the cafe. Because when they crossed the square in the centre of town, something hit at their feet with enough force to make the two teens stumble back. Strong enough to crack the cobblestones before them. 

Roman looked up and immediately saw something in the sky, something-

“Shit,” Roman hissed under his breath, not hesitating to push Virgil aside. “Get down!” 

The two teens fell down behind a minivan parked in front of a local restaurant, just as another blast hit, not far from where they were a few moments ago. 

Virgil looked around, frowning. “What was-” 

“Blackbird,” Roman interrupted, changing into his Creativity outfit with a snap of his fingers. “Call Thomas, I can’t do this alone.”

“Wait, _ what _? Don’t tell me you’re going in now.”

The hero had already gotten to his feet, crouching behind the minivan. “I don’t have a choice,” he said quickly, carefully peering through the window of the van to see Blackbird had landed on the ground and was looking around her now. “Just… call Thomas. And then make sure you’re safe, make sure no one gets hurt. I’ll handle myself.”

He then jumped out and walked away from the minivan, before Virgil could even start his protests. Blackbird was looking around, adjusting her coat, almost reminiscent of a shorter version of a lab coat, with a black belt around her waist. Her eyes then locked on Roman and she smirked. 

“Ah, there you are,” she called out, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I feared you wouldn’t come.”

Roman frowned as he stepped closer. This was… out of character, to say the least. She never really showed up in public like this, usually it was Roman who lured _ her _ out by going after her gang. She never taunted him like this, she was more of the one to go in fighting. And… why was she _ here _? There was nothing for her to get in this place. What was the use in coming here? It didn’t make sense.

“Yeah, well, I can’t say no to a good fight, can I?” he called back regardless, not letting down his guard as he eyed her closely. “What are you doing here?”

At this question, the villain chuckled, raising one of her hands to study it as she answered. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked smugly, looking back at Roman with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know,” the hero called back, still watching Blackbird’s moves closely. This was so unlike her, and he didn’t like it one bit. She was planning something. 

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked. “Have a monologue about my plans so you can get away?”

Roman shrugged. “It was worth a shot, right?”

“Of course,” she said with another laugh, dropping her hands next to her sides. “And speaking of shots…”

Before Roman knew what was going on, she pulled one of her hands back and shot a darkness blast at the hero, who just managed to conjure up a shield to protect himself. However, the blast she fired at him was so powerful, it not only caused him to lose his footing, but it also broke his shield, after which it hit him anyways and sent him back a considerable amount, only stopping when he hit the side of a car parked nearby. 

As soon as he came to a halt, Roman pushed himself up again, ignoring the dull ache growing in his side, where Blackbird had hit him. He got rid of the remnants of his shield and kept an eye on his enemy. He had to be aware of what she was doing, so he could dodge and act accordingly. Protecting himself from her attacks was difficult, so he had to be cautious.

The hero managed to dodge one more blast that hit the restaurant behind him, and Roman found himself wishing that there wasn’t anyone inside anymore. He conjured another shield and threw it at her, using his telekinesis to guide it towards her. It was meant mostly as something to throw her off her rhythm- (Street smarts.) - so that he could use the moment of distraction to land a few punches. 

But before he could strike, a strong electric pulse hit him from behind, rendering him pretty much immobile. He fell to the ground, seemingly unable to stay on his feet. It was like there was an electric pulse travelling through his body, allowing him no room to move. It hurt, like his muscles were on fire, but at the same time, it was only a distant pain. It was as if it should have been easily ignored, yet it was all Roman could focus on.

As soon as the pulse disappeared, Roman pushed himself up again, albeit with more difficulty that before. His muscles still seemed to tingle from basically getting electrocuted just now. As he turned around, Roman came face to face with whoever had attacked him and immediately, this whole situation made so much more sense. 

“Great, it’s you,” he mumbled, ignoring the weapon the Copycat pointed at him - it seemed like an upgraded version of the all too familiar bracelet Logan had used more than once. “What, couldn’t kill me, so you needed backup?”

Of course. Of course it was them. It made so much more sense now. Remy _ had _ to be the Copycat; they were one of the few people who knew his real identity, after all. Roman didn’t quite know how, but somehow, they must have found out he was here. That’s why Blackbird showed up here _ just _when he was as well. That’s why she targeted him. It just had to be Remy. There was no other explanation.

If only Thomas showed up quickly, as he was kind of outnumbered _ and _outpowered here. There was no way he would keep up in a fight between these two. Hell, he could barely fight only one of them. 

“I like to think of it as a favour for a favour,” they responded, which caused Blackbird to scoff. 

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” she grinned, nudging the other villain, who just rolled their eyes and turned their attention back to Roman. But just in that moment, Blackbird looked up. 

“Oh_ , tu te fous de moi _?” she grumbled to herself. Roman followed her glance to see a white figure flying closer. 

“Yeah, I’m not the only one who can do back-up,” Roman said with a smile, feeling infinitely more confident knowing that it wasn’t just him against these two. Because that would really be the death of him. He was quite confident he could keep up with the Copycat. At least for a little bit - and hopefully long enough to save his ass - but Blackbird being here really would have been the straw to break the Creativity’s back.

Thomas landed between the two groups, giving Roman a small smile before he turned to the two villains. “Hey,” he smiled serenely, “I feel like I interrupted something. Is this an inconvenient moment?”

Blackbird scowled, raising her hand. “Quite.” She turned her head to the Copycat next to her. “I got this. You continue the plan, won’t you?”

“Sure thing,” they nodded. 

She looked at Prism for a moment, giving him a challenging grin before she flew up into the sky. 

The hero followed her with his eyes, before turning back to Roman. “You got this?”

“I got this,” he confirmed, conjuring up a shield. “Do your thing.”

Thomas nodded and took off as Roman faced the villain before them. If he was being honest, he didn’t _ completely _trust himself to handle this, but he wanted Blackbird out of the way. Thomas was the only one who could be a match for her at this point, so if he could keep her out of his hair, his odds were looking way better already. He just had to figure out the Copycat’s tactics here. 

He’d only been distracted for a moment, but as soon as they were alone, the villain had lunged at the teenager. He lifted his shield just in time to block the punch aimed at him, but he didn’t see their leg which hooked itself around one of his, pulling it away so he lost his balance. Immediately, they pinned him to the ground, the shield falling beside him. 

Roman saw Copycat unsheathing the dagger they hid on the inside of their arm, and started panicking. He wasn’t in any position to blow a punch and he couldn’t escape their grasp very easily either. So, he did the best thing he could think of in his panicked state of mind, and used his telekinesis to push the villain away. 

He had used more of his power than he had intended, and they were pushed quite a far way, almost to the other side of the square. To be fair, this surprised Roman, as he only meant to push them off of him, so he could get up, but hey- at least this gave him more time. 

“I thought you said my secret was safe with you,” he called to the villain as he jumped to his feet. If this really was Remy… they should know what he meant. They said they’d keep his identity a secret, and clearly… Blackbird seemed to know who he was. Judging by the fact that she had clearly aimed a couple of hits at him. So much for that little bit of trust. “Wanna take that back?”

The Copycat scoffed as they pushed themself up as well, reaching for the dagger that they’d dropped when Roman threw them back. “That was before you killed my husband,” they spat in return, confirming the hero’s suspicion that this was, indeed, Remy Picani. 

The villain managed to grab their weapon and threw it at Roman, before he even had a chance to reach for his shield. He didn’t stress too much, and instead decided to use his telekinesis to slow it down, stop it, and grab it. Maybe he could even use it himself. Although, this dagger seemed to be actually _ sharp _. Unlike the sword he used. Or- tended to use. He hadn’t used it since-

As Roman tried to stop the weapon with his powers, he realised that he couldn’t sense it, unlike most other objects and people. Usually, he could use his telekinesis to feel an object, which also allowed him to get a grip on something. But this dagger… he couldn’t even feel it. 

So, he did the next best thing that he could think of; he ducked. The dagger just barely missed him, flying over his head by what had to be less than an inch. He then rolled to the side and reached for his shield for protection.

“Look, it was an accident,” Roman explained as he quickly jumped up. “I never meant for that to happen.”

He kept his eyes on Remy as he moved back. He really didn’t want to hurt them, despite the fact that they were trying to kill him. That was never his intention, but how was he going to get out of this alive without hurting them too much? 

“I don’t care,” the villain growled in response the distortion making their voice sound so much angrier and creepier. “He’s still dead, and it’s still your fault.” Without warning, they jumped at him, the claws on their fingertips shooting out. Roman raised his shield just in time to stop their repetitive blows, but he still heard the scratching of their claws against the metal coating of the shield, and the blows made him stumble back step by step.

He ducked underneath their attacks and threw two consecutive punches as the relatively unprotected area around Copycat’s stomach. Seeing his chance, Roman got up and hit Remy with an uppercut. The second punch he attempted was caught by his opponent, the claws on their fingertips digging into his skin. Remy then kneed him in the stomach and wrapped a hand around Roman’s throat, reopening old wounds they made in their first encounter. 

Seeing nothing better, the teenager raised an arm and hit his elbow against the inside of Remy’s elbow. They released him and took a step back. Roman fell to the ground and rolled to the side to dodge a feet aimed at him. He then hit Remy’s feet away from underneath them. 

“Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” the hero tried as he tried to push himself up as quickly as he could.

“Then don’t,” they responded, managing to dig their claws into Roman’s calf to keep him down. “Just makes my job easier.”

The hero groaned and used his telekinesis to push Remy away from him, although this did cause the villain to drag their claws across his lower calf as they were pushed back, and that… really did hurt. 

Roman pushed himself up and tried his best to get away, but his leg _ hurt _ and it was hard to put his weight on it, and God, there was _ blood _. The wounds started to throb, seemingly starting to hurt more as soon as he put his attention to it, and the teen really found himself wishing that Thomas would make his return soon. He wasn’t sure if he could keep this up for much longer.

He saw Remy getting up as well, and got ready to defend himself if he had to. But then, a bright light appeared and Roman closed his eyes quickly, trusting that Thomas would help him. If it was the two of them, they would be cool. They could do this. All with the power of teamwork. 

Prism landed just in front of Roman and turned to him immediately. “Hey, are you good? Want me to get you out?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” the younger hero answered with a small smile. “Please do.”

Without hesitation, Thomas took a hold of Roman and made sure to support him as they flew off, away from the danger of what turned out to be Remy. Like Virgil had already predicted. 

Speaking of-

“Where’s Virgil?” Roman asked as soon as they landed in a small dead-end alley, away from the square where they’d been fighting. “Is he safe? Do you know?”

Thomas nodded. “He’s safe, Joan’s with him,” he said, kneeling in front of Roman, who had already sat down on the ground, unable to stand with his injured leg. “How about you?”

“Could be worse,” the younger hero answered, very clearly avoiding _ actually _answering the question asked. “Could be dead.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Roman sighed and took off his mask. He was starting to feel the pain in his throat and leg more and more, and he didn’t like it one bit. It hurt like hell. “Well, it sucks. But at least I’m not dead.”

Thomas shifted so he could cross his legs and looked at the kid in front of him. “You gotta see someone for that,” He said seriously, eyeing his wounds - especially the gashes on his leg. 

“No way,” the teen immediately decided.

“You’ve got to get those cuts checked out,” Thomas urged. 

“I’m fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “It’s just a flesh wound.”

It was quite obvious that Thomas was… not convinced. He raised an eyebrow at the other. “Roman, please,” he tried, leaning in a bit. “Those wounds can’t be good. What if they’ll get infected?” 

“Wounds never are good, are they?” Roman asked with an attempt at a smile. “But how am I gonna explain this? There’s no way I can justify them. I can’t say it’s an animal, I can’t say I got into a fight without needing to justify it. Can we please just… go back, clean them and… see what to do about them later? Please? It might not even be that bad, and I don’t want to… you know… expose myself.”

Thomas was quietfor a moment, but finally sighed. “Fine,” he gave in, “if you’re so sure… but if anything seems off, I’m taking you to see someone.”

“Sure.” There was no point in trying to fight this decision. Thomas seemed to have made up his mind already, and it was the best he was going to get out of this at this point anyways. Besides… it might actually be a wise decision to have the wounds checked out. Roman was just reluctant to do so because of the risk of being exposed. Finding a reason for the scratches on his leg would prove difficult, after all. And maybe it wasn’t all that bad, right? They could just check out the wounds themselves, clean them up, and maybe that would be it. He needed a bit of time first.

Thomas, almost like a reflex, reached for his phone, before realising that he had no pockets in his suit and his phone was still left at home. “Can you let Joan and Virgil were heading back?” he asked, giving Roman a sheepish look. “Tell them to come to my place.”

“Sure,” Roman repeated, using his telekinesis to grab his phone. “I’ll send a message in the group chat. Should I ask Pat to come as well?”

“If he can,” Prism nodded, pacing around the small alley a bit. He looked around, making sure that they were okay. He didn’t trust it one bit. He hadn’t actually defeated Blackbird - he had managed to hit her a few times and steer her away from Roman. When he had shaken her off, he went back to see Roman. The two of them took off before she could come back, Thomas made sure of that. But she could be anywhere still. “We’ve got to discuss this.”

Roman nodded and quickly typed out a message, to let the others know that they were alright and to tell them to come to Thomas’ place. He sent it and hid his phone in his boot again. 

“Alright,” he said finally, “let’s go.”

Immediately, Thomas picked up Roman again and the two of them took off, flying in the direction of the YouTuber’s home. 

By the time they landed in the backyard, shielded by the fence that surrounded the garden, the pain in Roman’s injuries had gotten much more prominent. Now that there was nothing else on his mind, he didn’t really have much choice other than focussing on it. And it… wasn’t necessarily good.

He tried to hide a wince as he jumped on the ground, but clearly failed at that, seeing as Thomas gave him a worried look. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, immediately reaching out for the younger hero, who tried to maintain that he was _ fine _. Despite very clearly not being fine. “Come on, let’s go inside so we can take a look at that.”

Roman nodded and managed to take a few steps in the direction of the back door, but it really didn’t take long before he realised that he really couldn’t do it. Luckily, there was Thomas, who immediately rushed to his side to support him. 

“I’m fine, you know,” the teen tried as the other opened the door. 

“Sure you are,” Thomas hummed, leading the other inside, “and I’m just helping.”

Creativity rolled his eyes, but didn’t continue his protests. The two of them walked into the living room, and Thomas urged him in the direction of the hallway, which earned a few confused looks from Roman that were promptly ignored. 

“What are you doing?”

“You’ll see,” Thomas grinned. “I’ve been working on our future lair.”

Roman raised an eyebrow but continued to follow the other hero, curious to see what that would entail exactly.

The two heroes walked towards the basement. Getting down the stairs wasn’t easy for Roman, but luckily, he wasn’t alone. Thomas helped him and led him into the basement - aka their lair-to-be. In the middle, there was a wooden table surrounded by a number of chairs. A few boxes were still shoved in a corner, and there was a stray clothes hanger hanging on one of the lamps on the walls, but it looked… nice, strangely enough. Maybe it was just the idea of this eventually turning into their secret hero hideout, but Roman loved it. Despite the fact that this was barely anything at the time.

“It’s not much,” Thomas said as they took the last few steps down. “But I figured we needed somewhere to discuss our matters in full privacy.”

“It looks great,” Roman grinned. “Don’t worry.”

Thomas smiled and led the younger hero to the table, helping him to sit down. That would make it way easier to look at the wounds on his leg. Once they were cleaned up anyways, because while most of the bleeding had already slowed down in the time it took to get here, they were still bleeding, and the wounds obviously had to be cleaned as well. 

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Thomas said, “stay here, maybe put some pressure on it, if you can? I’ll be right back.”

“Wasn’t quite planning on going anywhere,” the teen hero muttered under his breath as he rested his leg on the backrest of one of the chairs. The wounds didn’t look pretty and he had to look away. The fabric on his leg was completely ruined by the slashes and the blood stains. Good thing that he could make a new one with a snap of his fingers. 

A doorbell rang upstairs, and Roman heard Thomas’ voice nearly immediately, drawing nearer as he walked to the front door. More voices joined his, followed by footsteps going down the stairs. 

“Ro, thank God,” Virgil breathed out as he rushed up to the other, gently wrapping his arms around him. “I was worried sick, how are you doing?”

“Could be better,” the hero answered, returning the hug. The fact that Virgil was safe, and seemingly unscathed was such a relief. He would have never forgiven himself if something had happened to the other. “But I’m alright. How are you?”

“Better now,” the other said with a gentle smile. He stepped back and looked at Roman, eyeing the injuries on both his shoulder and his leg and winced slightly. “You sure you’re good?”

Roman nodded as Thomas and Joan joined them in the basement. “Yeah, I hardly feel them anymore,” he said, giving his friend-boyfriend-whatever a smile. It wasn’t completely a lie, but the wounds were still very much a nuisance. Especially the ones on his leg. “Hey, you know if Pat’s coming?”

“Yeah, he said he’d try to come here as quickly as possible.”

Again, Roman nodded, at least that was something. At least they’d have the whole team together to discuss this and to see if there was anything they could do about… all of this. 

“I’m gonna clean up your wounds real quick, alright?” Thomas asked as he grabbed a wet cloth he’d taken with him. 

“Yeah, sure,” Creativity nodded. Thomas carefully put the cloth to the scratches on his leg, putting some pressure on it as he went. Roman bit his lip and turned to Virgil again, leaning back a bit, as if that would take his mind off the far from pleasant feeling in his leg. He really wished they could just get this over with and start getting into the really important topic here; the identity of the Copycat, their team up with Blackbird, and what the fuck they had to do with this information. That was infinitely more important than any of this. But that was probably his opinion against all of the others. 

There was a little bit of small talk as Thomas took are of the wounds on Roman’s leg, while the younger hero pressed a cloth to the small wounds on his throat. The bleeding eventually stopped and Thomas managed to clean the wounds and wrap them up. By the time they finished, Patton had already arrived and been updated on the situation. Which, obviously, worried him sick. Despite Roman’s constant reassurances trying to tell him that it was completely okay. Because all of them knew that it wasn’t. None of this was remotely okay. 

When he was done, Roman hopped off the table - making sure to land on his good leg - and sat down on a chair, while the others began to settle as well. There were a few hushed discussions between Joan and Thomas that apparently the teens weren’t allowed to hear, but they eventually joined the others at the table. But not before Thomas had made sure that Roman took some painkillers - ignoring his protests that he was _ fine _and didn’t even have that much pain anymore - and enough water. Since the fight hadn’t been easy on him. They all knew that. 

For ease’s sake, Roman had used his powers to change into some more comfortable clothes - a shirt and loose sweatpants. Walking around in a torn and bloody suit wasn’t exactly… nice. Or comfortable. Thomas had decided to keep on his suit, at least for the time being. 

“So… you said there’s been developments?” Virgil asked once everything had been settled, and the whole group had gathered around the table in the middle of a half-finished lair-to-be. 

“Yeah,” Roman nodded. “You were right. The Copycat is Remy.”

“Really?” Virgil asked with a slight frown. “How do you know?”

“They know my identity,” the hero explained, leaning back a bit. He let out a soft hiss as his side made contact with the backrest of the chair and changed his position a bit. The spot where Blackbird had hit him with her blast of energy was still sensitive, despite having been pushed to the back of the line due to his more serious injuries. “I talked to them when I… crashed at their place. Back when… you know…” He trailed off and gave the others a look, which was returned by a nod from all of them. Even without mentioning it, they understood that he was referring to that one time he was drugged and went to their house. “They said my secret was safe to them. I brought it up to them just now and they said that that counted before I… killed their husband. So yeah. It has to be them. Unless I killed someone else’s husband.”

“So that’s their motivation too, then, isn’t it?” Patton brought up softly. 

“Has to be,” Roman agreed. “I can’t think of anything else, and it makes sense. Revenge is a valid motif for any crime. According to the movies. So now we’re equal. They know who I am, I know who they are.”

“Now there’s just Blackbird,” Virgil commented, looking at Roman. At this point, it was very clear that the hero still hadn’t gotten over Logan’s death, and he was worried that the revelation of his spouse being the one who had tried to kill him twice would affect him negatively. He understood. None of this was easy to deal with. Roman blamed himself for what happened, and dealing with backlash from Emile was hard enough for him, but now he also had to deal with Remy. He really had some issues with this family, huh?

“I mean, we’ve got Thomas, so… we’re even,” Roman said with a smile. “I’m just thinking… why was she there? Remy called it a- a favour for a favour. What would that mean?”

Virgil shrugged. “I guess she helps them with you, they help her with something.”

“Yeah, no shit, nerd,” Creativity said with a scoff. “I mean _ what _? What are they helping her with?”

“The Copycat’s real identity,” Joan started, biting their bottom lip in thought. “What was their last name again? You know that?”

“Picani,” Roman responded. “Why?”

Joan held up their hand, signalling for the others to wait while they mulled things over in their head, repeating the name under their breath. “I know their name,” they finally said, typing something on their phone. “They’re a scientist, right? They work with the i-particle?”

Both Roman and Virgil answered with a confirmation, remembering well enough - they were the reason that their chemistry class managed to go on a field trip to the labs in the first place. They were very careful with who they let in, especially concerning the i=particle; the fact that Logan was married to Remy had made it so much easier to arrange it.

“Well then. That’s it?”

“What’s what?” Roman asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion. Joan’s mind had seemingly made a few leaps that maybe they could keep up with, but Roman most certainly couldn’t. 

“They worked with the i-particle,” Joan explained, spinning slightly in their chair, “and the gang you’re tracking, the one with Blackbird, they might have it, right? Or at least have some connection to it.”

Patton made a soft oh-noise, suddenly understanding what they were trying to say. “So you’re saying it was an inside job?” he asked. “That Remy helped them steal the particle?”

“It would make sense,” Joan simply shrugged. “And they demanded that Blackbird help them… well…”

“Kill me,” Roman finished with a soft huff. “It’s okay, you can say it. I’m not gonna break, I know they wanna have me dead.”

“It’s a favour for a favour,” Thomas mused, nodding his head slightly. He looked at a part of the table right in front of him, clearly lost in thought.

Roman hummed softly. Despite his earlier statement, it really did feel weird to discuss this. The whole idea of people trying to kill him - and the idea of that being a favour, too - it really made him feel… weird. Not necessarily bad, no, he could deal with a lot. He was openly gay; he was used to people wanting him dead - as bad as that might sound. But this particular instance just made him uncomfortable.

“Right,” he finally said, “that’s that then, but speaking of Blackbird, the issue of how to deal with her is also still on the table. So if anyone has any idea how to deal with that, I am taking suggestions.”

“I can take her on,” Thomas shrugged. “My powers and hers are opposites, they basically cancel each other out. If we can find a way that you can reach me easily, I can help.”

“As much as I appreciate the help, I can’t rely on you saving me every time,” the younger hero reasoned, turning to look at the man on his other side. “There’s gonna be a day when you’re on the other side of the country, and I can’t ask you for help. And if I only rely on you, that day is going to be the end of me. I’ve got to be able to defend myself, even without you. She broke my shield with one of her blasts without even trying, if I encounter the two of them by myself, I’m done for.”

“I can always try to make something to help you,” Joan suggested. “I have been thinking about earpieces anyways, I can try to modify them so you can contact each other more easily. And I can try making you something that can withstand her blasts so you have some more protection.”

“It would be awesome if you could pull that off,” Roman thought, “would make me feel much better as well.”

“I’ll do my best,” Joan smiled. 

The group discussed their options for a bit longer, Roman and Thomas shared their experiences in the fights once more, Thomas kept fussing over Roman to make sure he was okay. Eventually it got late, and thy ordered some pizza for all of them to have something to eat. Despite the teens protesting this, Thomas insisted he paid for the food - again. He was the host, after all. It was only polite for him to take care of his guests. 

Only when they had settled down in Thomas’ living room with their food, and they had decided to leave the hero discussion for today, Roman checked his phone, only to see a bunch of texts and two missed calls from his mom. Shit. She was obviously worried about her son - as her texts made clear. She had seen fragments of the fight online, and wanted to know if he was alright. With good reason. 

“I'll be right back,” he told his friends, already opening his mother’s contact. “I gotta call my mom real quick. Gotta let her know I’m alive.”

This statement elicited a few overlapping murmurs of agreement from all of the others and Roman pushed himself up with his good hand. Four pairs of eyes shot in his direction, making sure that he could stand with his leg in the state it was in. 

“I’m fine,” he reassured the others, knowing exactly what they were thinking. “I’ll be right back.”

He walked out of the room, limping slightly, since putting his full weight on his right leg wasn’t… trusted right now. Once he was out of the living room, Roman called his mother, carefully sitting down on the stairs to the basement as it rang. 

Megan answered nearly immediately. “Roman?” she asked hopefully, waiting for her son to answer. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Roman answered her, “I’m sorry for not letting you know sooner. I’m with Thomas. We discussed… some things.”

“I saw something online, what happened? I thought you and Virgil were going out?”

Roman nodded, despite knowing his mom wouldn’t be able to see that over the phone. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “But something got… in the way. Apparently a villain knows who I am so-”

“They attacked you?”

“Yep,” the hero sighed, leaning his free arm on his knees. “It’s all good though, Thomas helped and… well, I got myself out of that quite okay.”

“Do you know why they did that?” It was obvious that Megan was worried - obviously. Some people just attacked her son while he was out doing nothing, of course she was going to worry her ass off. 

Roman scoffed. Of course he did. “I have my suspicions,” he responded with a nod, “one of them - the Copycat - is Logan’s spouse. So I suspect they’re just pissed off. I can deal with that.”

“Are you sure?”

No. Not at all. But he couldn’t tell his mother that! He didn’t want to tell her that he had no idea how to deal with this new threat. “Sure,” he lied without missing a beat. “Thomas is here to help me, as well as Pat, Virgil, and Joan, so… I’ll be fine, mom. We’re just gonna eat something, and I’ll be home, okay? We just have to sort this out, that’s nothing.”

“If you’re sure,” Megan said slowly. Roman could have sworn there was a hint of doubt in her voice, but he let it slide. “Just be careful, love.”

“I always am,” he responded. Even if being careful didn’t mean a lot when there were two villains trying to kill them. Especially if those villains knew his real identity. “No worries, mom. Really.”

“Of course,” she responded, taking a breath. “But I do worry, Ro.”

“I know you do. But I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“You better,” Megan answered with a half-hearted threat. “So you’re not having dinner here?”

“Nope, but I’ll be back soon.”

“Good,” she said. “have fun, sweetie. I’ll see you when you come back.”

Roman nodded, sitting up again, in preparation to get up. “Yeah, see you then,” he said. “Love you, mom.”

“Love you too.”

He smiled and ended the phone call, before pushing himself up again with his good hand, slowly making his way back to the living room. The others had already set out their food and got something to drink for all of them, Virgil and Patton already having predicted that if Roman wanted _ anything _, it would be water. Which they had predicted correctly. 

“How did it go?” Patton asked as soon as the door closed behind Roman. 

“She’s worried,” he responded. “But it went okay, I guess. Nothing too special.”

He walked - or limped - over to the couch and sat down next to Virgil, who grabbed the hero’s pizza box and held it out to him. 

“Here you go,” he said casually as he handed it over. “By the way, we decided to watch a movie, and since you were gone, you don’t have a vote.”

Roman snorted as he took the box. “Sure,” he nodded. “I trust you guys.”

The squad ate their pizzas, watched a movie, and just talked some more, finally relaxing after the stress of today - especially Roman. He didn’t even realise how much he had needed this downtime after what had happened this afternoon. So it was really nice to just… hang out with his friends and not do anything. Not worry about anything for a while. For as long as it would last, anyways. 


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: nightmare, guilt,

_ “It’s okay, trust me, Roman.” _

_ Roman blinked his eyes and looked around. He was back in the Old Town Crossroads, the place where Logan died three months ago. And right in front of him, he saw him again. Hellfire. Dying all over again. _

_ The hero felt a familiar knot in his chest, a dull ache as he felt the panic rising up once more. “It’s not,” he heard himself say. “It’s not okay.” _

_ Why was this happening again? Why did he have to go through this again? He hated this. Why couldn’t he stop this? He hated it. So, so, so much. _

_ “It is,” Logan reassured him, that familiar distortion present, even in his dreams, “I’ll be fine.” _

_ That wasn’t true, though. He would die. Roman knew this now, he probably even knew it back then. And there was no way that Logan didn’t know this himself. He just wanted to reassure Roman. Even though they’d fought countless times over the past few months. He still wanted to make sure Roman would be okay. God, he really didn’t deserve to die. _

_ “I’m sure there’ll be an ambulance any second,” he tried. Even if it wouldn’t. The ambulance would come to late. They wouldn’t be able to save Logan anymore. They’d be way too late, he knew that already. “I’m sure… it’s gotta be near.” _

_ “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” _

_ Roman wished he could believe that. He really, really did. But no matter what he tried, he couldn’t. There was no way he could believe Logan’s last words. This all happened because of him. If he had been more careful, this wouldn’t have happened. It was all his fault. _

_ Despite them being enemies for months, Logan did his best to reassure Roman. Even his dying words. He did whatever he could to make Roman feel better - despite that failing. It was so unfair. He didn’t deserve to die. _

Roman woke up with a start, heart pounding. It had all felt so real, and- shit. He felt so shitty. It was bad enough having to be reminded of what he’d caused every day, having to face Logan’s son at school, having to live with his spouse trying to kill him because of this. Things had been bad enough without this nightmare trying to deliver another blow.

He let out a soft sob and flung himself at his pillow, holding it close. He hated himself so much for letting Logan die like that. He didn’t deserve that. Emile didn’t deserve that. Hell, _ Remy _didn’t even deserve that. There must have been something Roman could have done. There must have been some way he could have used his powers to save Logan. There had to be. But he didn’t do it. He was too scared, too panicked to even think of that. And now someone had died because of it. All because of him. It really was his fault, no matter what anyone else might have to say about that. It was his fault. 

Roman hated that he was reminded of this. He thought about it enough as it was, but this nightmare added another layer to it. And no matter how he tried to forget about it, not think about it, the more he thought of it. 

Eventually, he just decided to scroll down Tumblr for a while, until he felt like he could handle going back to sleep again. It was almost five, according to his phone. And it took him a least until six am to feel better again. Until his heart had stopped pounding wildly in his chest, and his brain had finally settled down a bit. And even though he could sleep for a bit after that, he didn’t feel like it helped much. If anything, he felt more exhausted than he was before. 

The memory of the nightmare haunted him. Not just throughout the Monday, but Tuesday and even a part of Wednesday. Everyone who knew him could see that something was wrong, something was bothering him. Virgil and Patton tried to talk to him - despite both of them already suspecting what it was - but after the first time they were dismissed, they gave up. Roman clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and they didn’t want to force it. He had to deal with this in his own way. Maybe if things got out of hand, they would talk to him, but for now, they decided to let it rest. 

That Wednesday, Roman tried to talk to Emile once more. It was right after French, a class he didn’t share with Virgil or Patton, but Emile and one of his friends, Kai, were there. All day, Roman was restless - much like the days before that. He felt like there was something he could be doing, like there was some better way to spend his time instead of being at school. The only problem was… he didn’t know _ how _ . He’d spend the afternoon at Thomas’ place, sparring and trying to figure out if they could locate the gang again, but that wasn’t until later this _ afternoon _ . That was nothing he could do right _ now _. It was killing him to just sit here and do nothing.

Maybe that’s where his decision to talk to Emile came from. Mixed with the guilt that was brought forth by the nightmare that had been haunting him since Sunday night - and the guilt he already felt before. He just… really wanted to make things right between the two of them. It had been a month since the last time he tried to talk to Emile, and the other teen hadn’t looked at him since. Roman hated the feeling, and he just wanted things to be okay. Emile was a really sweet guy, and the hero couldn’t stand the thought of him despising him for something that he hated himself for anyways. Besides, people were starting notice something was going on between the two of them, and that made matters even worse. It didn’t matter that no one knew what had happened, it was bad enough that they knew _ something _happened. 

Class had just ended and they were all packing up their stuff to go to their last class of the day when Roman saw his chance. 

“Hey, can we please… talk?” he asked carefully, walking up to Emile, who was just finishing putting his things in his bag. 

Emile zipped up his bag and looked at Roman for a moment. “No,” he simply answered before swinging his bag over his shoulder. 

Roman should have expected this answer, and to be fair… he probably did. But that didn’t make it suck any less. He just really… he wanted a chance to explain what had happened, a chance to set things right, but how was he supposed to do that if he wasn’t even given a chance to talk? 

“Please? I just want to explain-”

“I don’t want to talk, Roman,” Emile repeated as he walked out of the classroom, followed by Kai and eventually Roman. 

“But-” 

“He said no, douchebag,” Kai cut in turning to Roman with a glare. He was the shortest out of the three of them, but probably the fiercest. He was quick with words and definitely not afraid to pack a punch, either. On top of that, he was fiercely protective of his friends. “Look, I don’t know what’s been going on with the two of you, but I swear-”

“Kai,” Emile stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning to look at his friend, “I appreciate your help, but this is just something between Roman and me, yeah? I can handle myself.”

Kai sighed. “I know,” he said reluctantly, before turning his attention back to Roman. “But you better not annoy him again, cause I’ll rip your fucking throat out if you do.”

Roman simply nodded, very familiar with these threats at this point - although he hadn’t often been on the receiving end of them. “Of course,” he said softly, “sure thing. Sorry for trying, I guess.”

He looked at Emile for a second, and walked off to his last class, creative writing. He should have expected this, he thought as he made his way through the hallways. It was stupid to even try, but he couldn’t stand the situation he was in currently. There was so much going on, and he couldn’t keep up with all of it. He had hoped that maybe, if he could resolve at least one thing , things would get better. But the one thing that was in his control, he messed up. Why was everything so complicated right now? Things had been getting more and more difficult ever since Hellfire showed his face, with no sign of easing up soon. Stupid superhero-life making everything shitty. 

At least he’d go to Thomas’ place after class, to discuss how to find the gang, and to spar some - mostly for Thomas’ sake; it would never hurt someone to learn some actual fighting techniques. Especially if that someone was a superhero. And Roman didn’t know _ that _much, but he knew something. The basics they taught at sword fighting, and his kickboxing classes. That was more than Thomas knew. 

So, after one more class, Roman made his way over to his new friend’s house. He took the bus for a few minutes, and followed the instructions Thomas had given him to get to his place. Which he didn’t do without getting lost. Of course, because this is still Roman Palmer we’re talking about. He’s going to get lost sooner or later. 

At last, he made it to Thomas’ place. It was rather difficult to find, though, since he had only been there twice, and neither of those times, he’d gotten there himself. Thomas had taken him - not to mention that one of those times, he arrived by flight. But nevertheless, he vaguely recognized some of the streets he passed. He recognized that red house that he pointed out the first time because it was so cute. The house with the weird bushes in the front yard. The house with the fairy light decorating the balcony all year round. And so, Roman managed to find his way to Thomas’ house anyways. 

He rang the bell and waited for him to open the door. It was getting chilly outside, and he was glad to see the door opening rather quickly. 

“Roman, you made it!” Thomas grinned as he saw his fellow hero in front of the door. “Come in! How was school?”

“Eh, it was alright,” the teen shrugged as he stepped inside. “School’s school, I guess.”

Thomas chuckled softly, closing the door behind him. “That’s true,” he said. “As long as you survived, right?”

“Oh yeah,” the other nodded. “That’s all that matters at this point.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks,” Roman said, giving Thomas a thankful smile to show that he did really appreciate the offer, but he was okay for now. “Is it okay if I changed into something more comfortable? For later?”

“Yeah, of course!” Thomas nodded. “You can take the bathroom, I guess? I’ll be in the basement, okay?”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you down there in a bit then.”

Not long after, Roman made his way to the basement. He immediately noticed that Thomas had shoved the table and the few chairs to the side of the room, so the two of them would have enough space to spar a bit. 

“Oh, yeah, I couldn’t get any good mats in time,” Thomas said sheepishly as he saw Roman coming down the stairs. “I was hoping you could-”

“I can do my thing,” he interrupted, immediately understanding what Thomas wanted him to do. “Would’ve been nice to know in advance, but that’s okay. I’ll let you get away with it.”

He winked at Thomas as he cracked his knuckles. He focussed for a moment, having to picture the mat and take a second to make sure it was all in order. He never made something like this, and things had to be okay because if he screwed this up, they could really get hurt. If he didn’t do this right, they might as well do it without mats at all. 

But finally, Roman snapped his fingers and conjured up a few mats for them to train on. 

“Let’s just go through some basics until Joan gets here, I think?”

Thomas nodded, clapping his hands together. “Sure thing!”

For about ninety minutes, the two of them trained, mostly going over some basic moves, much like Roman had said just before they started - what a surprise, huh? Then, Joan showed up at Thomas doorstep. 

“I brought takeout,” they said as they held up the plastic bag in their hand. “I thought you guys might appreciate that.”

Thomas grinned. “Did I ever tell you you’re the best?” 

“Not nearly enough,” Joan replied as Thomas let them inside. “I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“Nah, we’ve been at it for a while,” Thomas told them as he walked back a bit. “So I think we’re good for now.”

“Good, good,” Joan nodded, stepping inside and closing the door behind them. 

“Hey, you go downstairs already,” Thomas told his friend, “I’m just gonna go get something to drink, alright? Can I get you something?”

Joan gave Thomas a thumbs up. “Water’s fine.”

Roman had sat himself down on the table slightly massaging his injured shoulder. It still hadn’t completely healed, and neither had the injuries on his legs. And while they didn’t cause him that much trouble anymore, training this much did cause a slight pain to flare up again. 

As Joan walked in, the teen looked up and gave them a smile, quickly dropping his hand. “Hey, Joan,” he said with a smile, “how are you?”

“Pretty good,” they responded as they made their way to the table. “How about you? Hurt your shoulder?”

“What? Oh, that- no, it just… well, it doesn’t really hurt, but it’s just annoying, you know?”

Joan nodded in understanding as they approached the table. “I get it,” they said, placing the plastic bag on the table. “But it’s better, right?”

“Definitely,” Roman confirmed, “I mean, it’s not even that deep, you know? It’s just annoying as all hell. Cause I use my shoulder quite a lot, so…”

“Oh yeah, that sucks,” they agreed. They sat down on the table next to Roman. 

“It does,” he nodded, eyeing the bag in between them. “You brought food?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d like some.”

“You fucking bet I do,” the teen said. After all, training had cost him quite some energy, and he hadn’t eaten much since lunch. “What did you do to Thomas, by the way?”

“He’s just grabbing something to drink, don’t worry,” Joan said with a smile at the teen.”I haven’t killed him, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Roman chuckled. That definitely was _ not _what he was thinking. Or maybe just a little. “Hey, I’m just checking.”

They remained silent after that, but luckily, Thomas came back with a few bottles of water. “I couldn’t find much other than water, so I hope that’s good enough.”

“Anything works for me,” Roman said quickly as he grabbed one of the bottles Thomas held out to him. “So… got any ideas for a plan?”

“Actually,” Joan started as they took the food they’d brought out of the bag, “before we do, there’s something I should do. Before I forget.”

They got up and fumbled for something in their pockets, muttering to themselves. Roman took a sip of water, really feeling the need for something to drink after training. Also food, which he and Thomas quickly got. 

“Ah, here it is!” Joan finally exclaimed, getting a small box out of their pocket. One that was usually used to store earphones. “I’ve been working on these for a while. They’re not quite the final version I want them to be, but they’re functional. It’s better than nothing.”

Roman frowned. “And what’s ‘them’ exactly?”

“Yeah, I’m getting there,” they said as they opened the box and took out one of the small objects inside of it. “These are small earphones, equipped with a small mic, bluetooth, the usual movie stuff. They’re connected to each other, and I want to connect it to something we can hook up in here, so you guys can talk to us as well if you need to.”

“Oh, that’s fucking awesome,” Roman smiled, taking one of the small earpieces from Joan. “We can use this when we’re gonna follow the gang again.”

“I still want to try to find a way to enable you guys to directly call one another on your phones by these things,” Joan continued to explain to the two others. “Especially given your… circumstances.” These last words were definitely directed at Roman. Both heroes were well aware of this, even without the glance Joan sent at the younger of the two. “But I haven’t managed to do that just yet. I might have some free time at work this week.”

“This is amazing,” Roman gushed, still looking at the small earpiece in his hand. “Any chance I can borrow something to store it in? I’m afraid I’m gonna break it otherwise. Or lose it. Or both.”

Knowing him, it would probably be both.

“Here, have this,” Joan said quickly, handing the small box over to the young hero. “I don’t have a use for it anyways.”

Roman thanked them as he stored the piece of technology inside it, putting it back in his pocket. 

“Joan, you really are incredible.” Thomas grinned broadly and walked over to his friend, hugging them tightly. “Thank you.”

Joan chuckled, patting Thomas’ back a few times. “It’s nothing,” they said, “I’m your tech guy for a reason.”

After the initial excitement had settled down a little bit, the three of them sat down around the table, eating food while discussing their tactics of taking down the gang. Along with a little bit of messing around. 

“Hey, Roman,” Joan eventually said, “you’ve been to multiple of their hideouts, right?”

Roman nodded, swallowing the bite of rice he had in his mouth at the moment of asking. “Yeah,” he answered. “A couple, why?”

Joan shoved their seat back, moving to get up again. “Do you know where they were? Maybe we can find a motive, or maybe even check out some old hideouts to give us an idea. They might still be occupied, and otherwise, we might be able to get some information out of it. It’s more than nothing.”

“I can try,” the teen shrugged. He knew some of the locations he had visited. Maybe not all of them, but definitely one or two. 

“Great, I’m gonna need to borrow your laptop for this,” they announced with a look at Thomas. Without waiting for a response, they got up and walked upstairs again. 

“Yeah, sure,” Thomas called after them with a chuckle. He shook his head, turning back to the last bit of food in front of him. His best friend was an idiot. I mean- he would let them use his laptop without question, and they knew it, but still. 

A while later, Joan walked back down, already carrying an open laptop in their hands, doing something on the laptop. They stopped what they were doing as they walked down the stairs, returning their attention back to what they were doing as soon as they made it down. 

“Okay, I’ve got a small map pulled up right here,” they explained as they put the laptop down on the table. “Roman, if you could mark everything you remember…”

“I’ll try my best,” Roman muttered under his breath as he got up. He took a look at the map, trying to remember where he had been. Eventually, there were a few he ended up remembering. Two he knew exactly, and there were a few he vaguely remembered, but not quite. Most of them seemed to be on the edge of town. Which… made sense. The edge of town meant less people around, which meant less chance to be discovered doing shady things. Especially with a high-end lab trying to track you down for stealing one of their most important objects. Getting away from the business of the centre was important. Or, at the very least handy. There were still a few hideouts located more centrally, but it wasn’t that much. 

“Alright,” Joan mumbled, studying the places Roman had circled. “A lot of remote places, so that’s one thing we should be looking at.”

Thomas nodded, turning the laptop so that he could see the marks on the map as well. The three remained silent for a while as they contemplated this. Because, even with this knowledge, there were a lot of places they could check. There were quite a few empty warehouses and other venues of stores that had gone bankrupt around here. If they even were in town. Maybe they had left. Who was to say? 

But then, Thomas had an idea. Or- well, it wasn’t quite an idea. It was… a voice in his head, not quite like his own, telling him to maybe try Harvey’s distribution centre. It was the same voice that had led him to the warehouse where he’d met Roman not too long ago. (Is it now? Huh, that’s a strange plot convenience, isn’t it?)

“I think we should try Harvey’s distribution centre,” Thomas repeated the voice slowly. This statement got him a few questioning looks from his two friends, which he then quickly brushed off. “Just… a hunch. Just like the last time.”

He gave Joan a meaningful look, knowing fully well that they would understand what it meant. After all, they were there when it happened the first time round. And while he still didn’t quite understand what had happened that time, Thomas knew that this weird hunch had been correct that time as well. It was strange, but… weirder things had been happening to him lately anyways. So he didn’t question it. 

“We can always try it,” Joan nodded. “It was right the first time. Might be worth investigating.”

“Sounds good,” Roman said, eager to do anything that would enable him to find the gang again. “This weekend?”

The others agreed to this, both sharing this sentiment. So all that was left now, was working out a tactic.

The distribution centre that had popped up in Thomas’ head - for whatever reason they could work out later - was an old building which belonged to Harvey’s, a supermarket chain that went bankrupt a few months ago. After a quick google search, the team found that it was located on the edge of town. Obviously. They all were. 

The building wasn’t big. Which could be good, but it could also prove to be quite tricky in their mission. If there were a ton of guards in that place, it could become pretty crowded pretty quickly, and that could be a mess. And dangerous at that. They had to prepare properly. 

That’s exactly why the three of them spent the last hour and a half discussing possible tactics and tricks. So they could prepare for anything they might faced with in their adventures. 

By the time that they finally finished, it was approaching eight pm, which Roman deemed late enough to be heading home. He said his goodbyes to Thomas and Joan, promising he’d see them in the weekend, refused Thomas offer to drive him home, and left. He arrived back home just in time to see Sophie before she went to bed and allow her to talk him into telling a bedtime story - he just couldn’t say no to her face. So despite having no time at all to prepare, he went upstairs with his little sister, telling her a story about Creativity. It was highly exaggerated, but Sophie didn’t really care. She was just glad to be able to hear her brother talking. 

After he had finished the story, Roman kissed his sister’s forehead and wished her a good night, before heading downstairs, where his mother was watching a nature documentary on the television.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she smiled as she saw her son approaching, patting the spot on the couch next to her. “How was it?”

“Pretty good,” he answered, sitting down next to her. “We’re going to check out a distribution centre this weekend, it might be a hideout.”

Megan nodded, leaning on the backrest of the couch as she looked at Roman. “Oh, really?” she asked with a slight tilt of her head. “Well… I hope it works out for you.”

It was still weird and very new to her, this entire superhero deal. But she was always going to be supportive of her son. As long as he was careful about this. 

“Yeah,” he sighed, leaning his head against her arm. “Me too. I suppose… we’ll see.”

Megan hummed softly, running her hand through his hair absentmindedly. “As long as you’re careful.”

“I will,” he promised with a small nod. Of course, he couldn’t _ promise _, but he could try his best to be careful and both Megan and Roman understood this. They both knew that, if the situation called for it, Roman would give his own life if it meant protecting people. They just hoped it wouldn’t have to get to that point.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Fighting, injuries, mention of possible death
> 
> Note: Truly don't know how to feel about this chapter, but... enjoy it nonetheless hahah

The weekend came rather quickly, and Roman and his team met up at Thomas’ place, so they could get ready for their mission. The first actual mission the two of them would go on together. Roman was weirdly excited about doing that. He and Thomas had fought together, but it was never a mission the two of them  _ started  _ together. 

Roman got the little box with the earpiece out of the pocket of his coat, placing it on the table, which had now been restored to its former place in the middle of the room. He hung his coat over the back of one of the chairs and snapped his fingers to change into his suit. 

“Are you sure these things will work?” he asked Joan, nodding at the box as he opened it. 

“Positive,” Joan responded from their position at the head of the table. “I tested them multiple times, they should be good to go.”

Roman nodded, getting the earpiece out of its little container and pressing the little blue button on the back of it to turn it on before fitting it in his ear. 

“Great, I’m ready to go,” he muttered, “now if only Thomas would be…”

“I’m sure he’ll be here shortly,” Joan responded, typing away on the laptop in front of them. “It just takes a bit of time.”

Thomas had gone upstairs to change into his suit a while back, since he couldn’t change as quickly as Roman could, and he was still upstairs. There was no doubt they he would be back soon, but Roman just really wanted to go out and do something. He was getting restless. Sitting back was never something he’d been good at, and this was  _ important _ .

Luckily, Thomas did come back rather quickly, dressed in his own suit and ready to go. He looked at the others. “Everyone ready?”

Joan nodded. “I think so,” they responded. “Everything’s set up here anyways.”

“I’m good,” Roman said with a nod, stretching his arms a bit. “You have the USB?” He turned to Thomas, who showed him a small USB drive before storing it safely in his boot. Roman gave another content nod. “So… shall we?”

“Sure thing.”

Virgil looked up from the message he was typing and looked at Roman. “You’re leaving?”

“Yep.”

“Alright,” he breathed, getting up. “Be safe, yeah?”

“Always,” Roman grinned, briefly kissing Virgil before putting on his mask. “Don’t worry there, Lord of the Cries.”

“You know who you’re talking to,” Virgil muttered with a look at the hero before him. 

“Good luck, Ro,” Patton jumped in. “And Thomas, obviously. Good luck.”

Thomas smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

After the last encouragements and exchanges, Thomas and Roman walked upstairs, into the garden where Thomas could safely take off without anyone seeing him. Well- there was still the risk of neighbours, but at this time of day in this time of year, it was more likely they were sitting inside rather than outside. It was the safest place, anyways, since the alternative was the middle of the street. 

“Should I…” Thomas paused, trying to think of the best way to hold Roman as they’d fly to the base - or rather, the presumed base. 

“Just pick me up, coward,” Roman interrupted with a grin. “That’s the easiest way, right? Smallest chances of me falling to my death, most comfortable. Just do it.”

Thomas smiled at the teen’s tone and nodded. “Sure thing.” He reached up to turn on the earpiece and then picked the smaller hero up. “Alright, hold on. We’re taking off.”

As they flew up, Roman tried his best to not look down. The thought of actually flying was insane, and while he trusted Thomas well enough, he could already picture himself falling down. Which would quite easily kill him. And he did  _ not  _ want that to happen. If he was going to die, he’d rather not die by falling out of his friend’s arms.

Luckily, their flight wasn’t too long and in a minute or then, Prism landed on the roof of a building not to far from their target. 

“Alright,” Thomas breathed - both in real life and, after a short delay, in Roman’s earpiece - as he put the other hero down on the ground. “Guys, can you hear me?”

_ “Loud and clear,”  _ Joan responded into their earpieces,  _ “you’ve arrived?” _

“Yeah, just landed,” Roman said, trying to get his legs used to being on the ground again after what just happened. “I’m gonna go in soon.”

He looked over the edge of the building and saw two people walking around the building they intended to target. Both were carrying guns; clearly, they were guarding something. That was a good sign. At least something, or someone, was in there. 

_ “Good luck,”  _ Virgil said softly and Roman smiled. This was the first time he’d be able to talk to his team while on a mission without having to hold his phone to his ear. How awesome was that?

Creativity smiled. The guards disappeared behind the building, out of sight. “Thanks,” he said before turning to Thomas. “I’m going in. I’ll let you know what I find. Stay on the lookout, alright? Let me know if you see any guards approaching.”

As Thomas nodded, promising he’d never let Roman out of his sight, the teen turned around and jumped off the roof, slowing his fall with his telekinesis. He landed on the ground and made his way over to the small distribution centre. There weren’t many windows, so he could walk around without being discovered by the gang. If they even were here. Given the guards they’d seen, he had a feeling that they were, but one could never know. 

There were a couple of docks where trucks could enter, and one door for employees to enter through. The dock doors would be easy to break down with the help of Thomas, but Roman feared that doing that might make too much noise and draw attention from… everyone. 

The regular door, on the other hand, had a lock that could be picked. Roman had been practicing it a bit more over the summer, so he hoped that he could manage this time as well. No one knew that they were here, so there was less pressure. The only risk was the guards circling the building, but he had Thomas for that. 

Creativity conjured up the materials he needed to pick the lock and started to work on it. It took him a bit to get a hang of it, but eventually… he managed. There was a brief click of the door, and Roman felt it opening a little bit.

_ “The guards are coming back,”  _ Thomas spoke over their connection.  _ “You might wanna hurry.” _

Roman smiled, pushing the door open. “No need, I’m in,” he told his partner. “I’m going in. See you later.”

He snuck inside and closed the door softly, hoping he was in time to hide himself from the approaching guards. 

When the teen was inside and sure the guards had passed on the other side of the door, he took the time to study his surroundings. He was in a large open space, with to the left space for trucks to enter and drop off their goods. There were a few shelves, mostly empty, but he saw a few strange-looking crates. They looked like they were made of a heavy metal, but there was something… odd about it. 

Curiosity getting the better of him, Roman made his way over to one of the crates, carefully lifting the lid. He immediately noticed that the metal was extremely cold, nearly unnatural. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as it looked. And inside of it… 

“There’s weapons in here,” Roman softly said to his teammates. 

_ “What?”  _ Multiple voices asked him in various amounts of confusion. 

“I’m in the storage unit, there’s some boxes here… there’s weapons.” He picked up one of the weapons, it looked like a gun, but a weird kind. It was made out of… well- it looked like some sort of metal, but Roman wasn’t good at identifying metals. It just as cold as the lid. The weapon itself was shiny and definitely not a regular gun. The urge to bring it with him and use it was big, but Roman didn’t know what it could do. It might kill everyone in the close vicinity, and he did not want to kill anyone here. He just wanted information. “Don’t know if it’s for them, or... “

_ “You think they’re dealing?”  _ Virgil asked as Roman put the lid back on the box. 

“Maybe,” he shrugged, crouching to hide behind the shelf as he heard a noise on the other side of the area. “But that’s not what I’m here for.”

He didn’t have time to look into the possibility of this gang making and dealing weird weapons. It wouldn’t be surprising, since it was what all the typical gangs did, but it was not what he was here to investigate. They could look more into this later. When they had the information they needed and were back home safely. But not now.

The sound Roman heard had turned out to be a door opening on the other side of the room. A small number of gang members stepped out of the other area, which Roman assumed would be what used to be the actual storage space, aka where the gang would keep their most valuable information. 

As the gang members approached, Roman shuffled to the side of the shelf he was hiding behind, trying to avoid them. Right now, he did not feel like fighting anyone. He wanted to get in, get what they needed, and get out. Preferably without much trouble. Especially this early on in their mission. Fighting would result in noise which would alert others, which would only cause more problems. If Roman could avoid that here, he would. 

In the silence in the room, the young hero could overhear parts of a conversation the three were having. If you could even call it a conversation, rather than complaining

“-don’t know why she’s so fixated on that,” the first said. “We could be doing so much more with this stuff.”

“Look, you might not like it, but she’s the expert here,” the second tried to reason. “She knows what she’s doing.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t take any criticism,” the former spoke up again, ready to go on a full-on rant about whoever they were talking about. “If she would listen to us for once…”

Roman stopped paying attention after that, since the little group had passed his hiding spot and he was now pressed against the other side of the shelf. He reasoned that now, he would be safe enough to stealthily make his way over to the door on the back wall and get into the next room. 

However, the door was in sight, and with a few more steps, he would have made it, but it was then that the hero realised that the conversation of the people behind him had ceased. He whipped around, and immediately saw the five looking right at him. Well, shit. So much for being stealthy. 

“Speak of the Devil,” the middle man said, now turning to face Roman fully. The two men he spoke to disappeared behind one of the shelves, and Roman just  _ knew  _ there was going to be some kind of diversion. “Aren’t you a little young to be out here, this late at night?”

Roman rolled his eyes at the comment. Did everyone in the crew know his real identity, or was it just a snarky comment because this guy was a jerk? “Don’t worry, my mum said it was okay.”

_ “Roman? What’s up?”  _ Thomas’ voice asked in Roman’s ear. Meanwhile, the middle guy made a gesture to the two other people, who disappeared quickly, walking in the direction of the front door. 

“Stealth run’s off the table,” the teen told briefly as he summoned a shield. Sooner or later, there was going to be a fight, and he had to be ready for it. 

_ “Crap, alright. Do you know where I should go?” _

“I’m guessing back room. All the way back where we landed.”

_ “I’ll check it out.” _

Roman nodded, but didn’t find the time to respond, because he looked up and was met with a knife that seemed to be directly headed for his face. The teen cursed and ducked, just in time to avoid the weapon, which embedded itself in the door, exactly where his face had been. Way deeper than a knife thrown from that distance should be able to bury itself, if the laws of physics were anything to abide by.

At that same moment, there was a loud rumbling sound and the building seemed to shake. It was probably Thomas who broke down the walls to grant himself entrance to the back room where he could continue the plan. Hopefully, as Roman didn’t have the chance to check it out. 

“That was a close one,” Creativity stated as he got up again. “Don’t let it happen again.”

“Don’t worry,” the criminal spoke. “I intend to hit next time.”

Roman held out his hand and was kind of waiting for the knife to fly into his hand, but nothing happened. He couldn’t seem to find the object and get a grip on it. Looking back at the weapon, Creativity could see it was  _ there _ . It just didn’t want to come to him and his telekinesis didn’t seem to think it existed. 

But before the young here could even try to think about it, the guy in front of him had taken his distraction as an advantage. In just a few moments, he’d crossed the distance between the two of them and punched Roman in the jaw, sending him back into the wall. The next blow, he saw coming and he could duck before it made contact. 

He moved to the side and got up just to pull the knife out of the door. He didn’t want to use it, but he couldn’t let the other guy have it either. If the force Roman needed to pull the weapon out of the door meant anything, this man had a killer throw - literally, seeing as this would’ve killed him if it hit its mark. The guy knew what he was doing. 

Roman created a thin sheath around the knife and hid it in his boot, where the other guy couldn’t get it. He ducked to avoid a punch, and when he got up, threw a couple of punches himself, which the other all dodged. But a swipe at his legs brought the guy falling to the ground. Before he could make contact with the ground, however, the villain grabbed Roman’s shoulders, dragging him down with him. Before Roman really knew what was going on, he was on the ground, with the other above him with a raised fist. He panicked and pushed the guy away from him with his telekinesis, a loud crack sounding when he crashed into the wall. Roman cringed at the sound, but didn’t bother to check in the guy. He was still breathing, so he was alive. And he most likely would have killed Roman if the roles were reversed, so… 

He was planning on going through the door and checking if Thomas needed help. He vaguely heard Joan telling Thomas how to get the information on the USB he brought with him, but hadn’t bothered to listen to it, since it didn’t apply to him. Thomas was still in the building, and he might need some help. But then, he remembered the two guys that had disappeared before he fought the guy who was now lying against the wall. 

Roman turned around just in time to see one of the two pointing a gun at him; one of the guns he had seen in the box earlier. He could just dodge the blast of light they fired at him, but he wasn’t so lucky the second time around. The second gang member had appeared and shot another blast at him, which hit him square in the chest. 

The sheer energy behind the blast sent him flying back into the door, which promptly cracked. The hero flew into the next room, where Thomas was just finishing up his job while also fighting off multiple gang members. 

“Hey, sorry to come busting in like this,” Creativity groaned as he pushed himself up again. That would hurt like a bitch tomorrow. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

He quickly rolled behind a desk, ignoring Thomas’ comment and peaked over the top of the desk, seeing the two gun-guys approaching. Then, he crouched down again and clenched his fist, trying to get a feel of the desk he was hiding behind. When he was confident that he had a good grip on it, he threw his fist forwards, which caused the desk to shoot at the two guys approaching them. They fell backwards, the guns falling out of their hands, and Roman deemed them not a threat anymore. 

With those out of the way, Roman focussed on one of the relatively few guys still in the room. A couple were already knocked out, but a few others were still standing. The first one, Roman took care of by creating the closest thing he could to a big rock and shooting it at them, earthbending-style. Thomas shot a few blasts of energy at approaching enemies, though he was more focussed on obtaining the information on the computer in front of him. 

“I’ve got it,” he then said, hurriedly snatching the USB and turning off the computer. A few more people ran at him, trying to stop him, but he kept them at bay with another blast of his light energy. 

Roman was wrapped up in a fight with the two remaining gang members. He had conjured up a shield to help him block their punches while trying to keep up with the two. The first one of the two, he managed to kick in the stomach. Seeing them prepare to punch him, the teen ducked, causing them to punch their fellow criminal, after which a loud crack sounded. Roman moved underneath their arm, knocking out broken-nose-guy in one hit by hitting him on his temple.

Then, a figure he would recognize anywhere landed just outside of the hole Thomas had made when he entered. Blackbird, clad in her trademark black, white and purple stepped inside. 

“What’s going on in here?” she asked, looking around with that typical smirk of hers. 

“Nothing that you should be concerned about,” Roman bit back, knocking out his final opponent with a quick punch to their stomach, and then using his telekinesis to push them back further, into a wall. 

At this comment, the villain chuckled. “I think you breaking into a place I own very much does concern me,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the teen as she hit him with a blast of her dark energy. He was hit and sent back into the wall. For a second or two, his vision turned black, and as his head banged against the wall, the hero thought he’d black out, but he managed to keep a grip on his consciousness, even if barely.

Thomas responded with his own blast aimed at Blackbird, which she could quickly counter with her own. Her energy signature was a perfect opposite to Thomas’, which is why the beams could easily counter each other. They clashed somewhere in the middle with huge force. 

“Make sure you get out of here,” Thomas told Roman with a quick look at the hero on the ground. “I’ve got this.”

Roman wanted to respond, but couldn’t bring himself to do that. Instead, he resorted to slowly pushing himself up from his place amidst the rubble. There were a few flashes of light, followed by some voices he couldn’t make out over the ringing in his ears. The next thing he was aware of, was Thomas flying off, Blackbird following him. 

As he sat up, despite the nausea overwhelming him, Roman’s eye fell on something small in the middle of all the rubble and small pieces of wood. The USB Thomas had taken with him! He must have dropped it when Blackbird flew in. Creativity cursed under his breath and stretched out his hand, ready to grab the USB he flew into his hand. He noticed that it took him more effort than it would normally take, especially with such a small object. But he managed, and finally, he closed his fingers around the small object, storing it in his boot, next to the weird knife he had pulled from the door. 

Now, the next challenge was getting up. He was nauseous, everything was spinning and his head was killing him. His ears were ringing and he felt like he was going to fall over any moment. Even if he was still sitting down. 

Roman pushed himself up, finding support against the wall. He managed to take a few steps, leaning against the wall. He then pushed himself away and took a few steps by himself. They were wobbly, but he was standing. He was walking. And that is what mattered. 

He then walked in the direction of the hole Thomas had made. This was the quickest way out. And the safest, as he didn’t have to potentially face the people he fought earlier.

He managed to drag himself outside, without running into any enemies. But when he made it out there, the hero was faced with another problem. Having to make sure he was out of sight. Everything was spinning, and his head was hurting too much to be able to defend himself if anyone would attack him. He had to get out of here and wait until Thomas came back. 

The teen tried to make a grappling gun, so he could get up to some roof and wait for Prism to return. But this task, which had grown relatively easy on him in the past few months, seemed almost impossible to achieve. The first time he tried this, Roman experienced a sharp pain in his head, strong enough to cause him to stumble against the wall, holding his head. 

“Fuck,” he hissed softly, pushing himself away from the wall when the pain disappeared, almost as soon as he stopped trying to create the object. 

Roman turned around, leaning his back against the wall. After a short observation of his surroundings, the teen decided that he was still alone. But that didn’t mean he felt safe. The unconscious gang members could wake up at any moment, and he wasn’t looking forwards to facing them in this state. 

“Okay, let’s do this,” he muttered, taking a deep breath as a way to give himself courage to go through with this. If he wanted to survive, he had fairly little choice. 

The second time around, it hurt just as much, but now, Roman was prepared for it, and while it hurt like shit, he pulled through. When he finally held the object in his hands, the teen was left with a pain in his head, pulsating like the ripples left after a rock hits the water. It faded away rather quickly, but there was a strange feeling left behind, even then. 

He took a deep breath and pointed the grappling hook at one of the roofs and fired it. But, as it turned out, that was a huge mistake. 

When Roman landed on the roof, with a little bit of effort, his nausea reached an all-time high. It was so bad that the teen, laying on his knees, leaned his head over the edge ever so slightly, in case he really was going to throw up. He’d rarely felt as sick as he did now. 

Luckily, nothing happened, and the nausea reduced slightly rather quickly, but not fully. It was more manageable, at the very least. 

“Hey, I’m out,” he said softly, “so if you’re ready… I’m on top of one of the roofs around. I’ve got the USB.”

Roman sat down, closing his eyes to focus on just him, his breathing for a bit. He’d just wait here. Hopefully, Thomas would come back quickly.

Thomas hadn’t noticed that he had dropped the USB until it was too late and he was already flying off with Blackbird on his tail. At that point, he knew he couldn’t go back. Blackbird would follow him there and be able to get to him as he got the USB, or use it to her advantage otherwise. All his hopes were on Roman spotting it. And thank God that he had, otherwise all of this work would have been for nothing. And he did not feel like doing this all over again. Now he just had to worry about doing something to get rid of Blackbird. 

She pulled her arm back to throw a blast of her energy at Thomas, who quickly held his hands up with the palms facing each other. He fired a blast of energy with one hand, catching and absorbing it with the other. Since their signatures were perfect opposites, Thomas could use his own energy to block hers, and this was way less intensive than blocking her blast with a direct hit of his own. This was something he could keep up for longer, since it was a shorter range, and he caught the energy himself as soon as he fired it. It was basically recycling.

A fraction of a second later, a blast of dark energy hit his makeshift shield. There was a slight force pushing him back, but Thomas could hold it. He didn’t move, but instead focussed entirely on the plan in his mind. He had to concentrate if he wanted to succeed.

The hero focussed on his powers, feeling the energy flow between his hands. Then, he dropped himself. Just a bit, but enough to avoid Blackbird’s attack. When he was safe, he directed the energy he kept between his hands at her, catching her off guard and hitting her in the stomach. It was enough to send her back quite a bit, but not to get rid of her completely. He’d have to lead her away from the base and then shake her off, so he could fly back to get Roman safely. Which is exactly what he’d do. 

They were already quite far away from the base, but if he could get her a bit further… that would make things much easier. 

Thomas followed his first direct hit with two quick hits, which managed to hit their mark due to Blackbird being more focussed on making sure she stayed in the air, rather than fighting off the hero. 

She recovered herself quickly and glared at Thomas, as she fired an energy blast at him. However, the hero had seen this coming and flew down, ducking underneath Blackbird and flying away. It didn’t take her long to realise what was happening and she turned around, quickly chasing after Prism, who made twists and turns wherever he could, determined to shake her off. He knew that he couldn’t defeat her easily, so getting her off his tail was their best bet. 

When he felt like they were far enough from the base, Thomas twisted his upper body around so he could aim an energy blast as his chaser. Blackbird was caught off guard and got hit by the blast, which pushed her to the side. Thomas stopped in his tracks and followed up with two more blasts that both hit her, leaving her unable to get away in time to dodge the hits.

It was clear that Blackbird was more affected by these hits than she wanted to let on. Thomas flew back a little bit and stopped for just a moment, before flying in the direction of his opponent. He was able to hit her jaw with an outstretched fist, sending her back even further. By now, Thomas decided that it seemed that she was rather out of it and losing altitude, though she was still definitely conscious and able to rescue herself. She was just out of it. Enough for him to go back and try to find Roman. If he flew as fast as he could, he didn’t even have to worry about Blackbird chasing him as he did.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Injuries, I think that's all?
> 
> (Two chapters in two weeks? I am on a roll damn)

Finally, Thomas could fly back to the storage facility. On a roof not too far away, he saw a white and red figure that just had to be Roman. He flew in the direction of the figure and gently landed next to the teenager.

“Hey,” he said softly, crouching to the teen who had laid down on the roof. “Are you okay?”

“Other than the fact that I’ve got a massive headache and I feel like I’m gonna throw up? Totally.”

Thomas frowned slightly. That did not sound… okay. Sounded like it could be a concussion - which wouldn’t be surprising, judging by how harshly Roman had been thrown into the wall back there. 

“I’m gonna get you back home, okay?” he asked, already moving to pick the boy up. “Then we’ll take a closer look at it, when we’re not in potential danger.”

Roman muttered a soft agreement and sighed as Thomas lifted him in his arms. He was so exhausted, and he wished he could just fall asleep, but everything was hurting and he still had to take a look at the information they had brought in. 

Thomas made sure to be gentle with Roman and updated the rest of their team as he flew them back home. If the teen really did have a concussion, he didn’t want to add to his issues. So, Thomas carefully landed and even insisted on carrying Roman down to the basement, despite the latter trying to argue that he could very well walk by himself. Thomas wouldn’t let him. 

As they made it down to the basement, Thomas put Roman down on the ground, helping him to one of the chairs. 

“How are you feeling?” Patton asked the two heroes as he handed Roman an icepack he had prepared for his friend. 

“Peachy,” Roman muttered, despite everything still hurting. He thanked Patton for the icepack as his put it to the back of his head. “My ears stopped ringing and things aren’t spinning as much anymore, so I’ll take it as a win.”

Thomas shot his friend a supportive smile as he sat down at the end of the table, opposite Joan. “I’m good,” he said, “exhausted, though. Like… drained. Don’t think I ever used my powers as much as today.”

“You did awesome,” Joan said with an encouraging grin. 

“Speaking of,” Roman spoke up, reaching into his boot, “here’s the USB. And this.” He grabbed the flash drive with the documents they’d stolen and the knife, taking it out of the sheath he’d created. The USB, he slid over to Joan, so they could grab it and plug it into their laptop. He placed the knife in front of him on the table.

“What’s that?” Virgil asked, eyeing the knife as Roman picked it up with his free hand and studied it. 

“Guy threw this at my face,” he explained softly, “I dodged it, but there’s something weird about it. So I took it. It’s so cold, and I can’t use my telekinesis on it. I can’t even _ feel _it.”

“Feel it?” Patton asked curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Usually, I can feel objects with my telekinesis,” the hero explained, watching Virgil as he picked up the knife to study it some closer himself. “It’s like… the way you feel something when you run your hand over it, you know? It’s usually more of a subconscious thing, but with larger objects, I tend to focus on them better to be able to feel them better and get a stronger grip on it. Just like you would with your hands, except it’s with my mind, I guess. While Thomas was away, I had a bit of time to study this knife. But I could not feel it at all. It’s like… it’s not there.”

It could have been the fact that he was not in mint condition at the moment; he definitely did have a concussion, he was quite sure at this point. But it still didn’t make sense. He’d always been able to use his powers to some extent, even if he felt like crap. And sometimes, it took him more effort, and he couldn’t do the big things, like throwing a desk at someone. But no matter how close he felt to dying, he’d always been able to feel objects around him, since that barely took him any effort. Like he said; it was just like reaching out your hand to touch something, except it was mentally. Even now, he could feel the table, the chairs, the laptop. And yes, it hurt if he tried to focus his powers too much, but he could still _ feel _them. But where the knife was, he felt nothing. Just a big void. There definitely was something weird about this situation.

“Maybe this will help us,” Joan said, reading something on the laptop in front of them. “I’ve looked at some of the documents on here. A lot of them are encrypted, but there’s two that aren’t. By the looks of it, they’ve been experimenting with the i-particle and different metals. I’ve skimmed over it, but there might be a little bit of information here. They have dozens of pages of research in here. Titanium, copper, steel… they’ve been busy.”

“Anything of use?” Virgil asked as he put the knife back down again. 

“Well… by the looks of it- the particle tends to enhance most of the metals’ properties. Melting point, ductile and tensile strength, fatigue limit… everything, basically. They also said that it can resist i-particle waves, whatever that entails. And the particle does give the metal some special properties. I haven’t gotten to all of it, but maybe one of the special properties is resistance to your telekinesis?”

“We need to find out where they’re keeping that particle, where they’re doing their experiments,” Roman muttered, leaning on the table as he closed his eyes for a few seconds. “It’s really becoming a pain in our collective asses.”

“We’ll get there,” Patton tried to reassure his friend. “We’ve got files on them now, I’m sure there’s something that will lead us further, we just need to decrypt them first. We’re one step closer.”

“Closer than we’ve gotten on any of our earlier tries,” Virgil added. 

Roman nodded, aware that his friends were right. He could have said that himself. But he feared that all of that would take too long. He wanted to get to their lab _ now _ . He wanted to get that particle back _ immediately _. Every second that they let the gang have control of the particle, they could run more experiments on it. And if it really gave the knives a resistance to his powers, then who knew what else they could do with it? Especially with Remy and now Blackbird going after him… this was urgent, and he wasn’t sure the others would understand just how important this was to him. But he didn’t say all of that. He just sighed and nodded. 

With a little bit of luck, they’d figure it all out before it was too late. 

After a bit more of discussions, the teens decided to leave. They’d got what they wanted, and Joan had to figure out how to decrypt the files before they could make any real progress. Besides, Roman had to rest to allow his concussion to heal. 

So, the three said their goodbyes and got into Patton’s car. He dropped Virgil off first, and then drove on to Roman’s house. Despite the latter’s protests, Patton insisted on walking with him to his apartment to make sure he would be alright. Sure, he trusted that Roman would be okay, but he still worried. Roman was an idiot, after all. He hated feeling helpless, and being injured was probably the worst way of being helpless, because there was nothing you could do about it. Just wait until it was healed. And Roman was never good at waiting.

Patton waited as Roman unlocked the door, and then followed him inside, wanting to be sure that his mom heard about what had happened, because a part of him feared that Roman would hide it from his mother and then continue to do things that might only make his state worse. He was stubborn enough to pull a stunt like that. 

As the two entered, Megan looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at seeing her son. “Hey you,” she smiled, eyes immediately darting to Patton. She noticed something was wrong, but decided to wait until one of the two teens would tell her. “Hey, Patton. Didn’t know you’d be coming in, how are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” he answered with a smile. “I won’t be long, though. Just wanted to make sure Roman would be fine. We’re pretty sure he got a concussion on the mission today.”

Megan immediately turned to her son, obviously worried. “What happened?” 

“Blackbird,” Roman simply responded - not answering the questions at all. “I’m fine, really.”

“Just be careful,” Patton told him gently. 

Roman hummed. “Of course,” he said with a nod. “Thanks for helping, though.”

“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

The young hero smiled and hugged his friend. While he might have been a little bit annoyed with the other’s insistence on helping him more than he himself felt was necessary, he did appreciate it. At least it showed that he cared. Which- made sense, this was _ Patton _, one of the sweetest human beings alive. It was still a nice confirmation. 

“I should go home before my mom starts asking questions,” Patton said, carefully freeing himself from their hug. “Be careful.”

Roman grinned. “I’ll do my best.”

Patton smiled and gave his friend a light wave, walking back outside and to his car. Meanwhile, Roman took his shoes off, sitting down on the couch next to his mom. 

“How are you feeling?” she asked, looking at her son with worry. 

“Better than before,” he answered with a slight shrug. “It’s really not that bad.”

“_Roman_,” Megan stressed, gently running her hand through his hair. “Patton said you had a concussion. That’s serious.”

Roman made a slight grimace. “I’m fine, though!” he repeated. “I barely even feel anything anymore.”

Megan sighed as she got up, walking towards the kitchen. “It’s not about whether you feel something or not,” she told him. “It’s still a brain injury. You need to recover from that. Even if you _ feel _like you’re okay now, you need to rest.”

She got a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with water. Then, she walked back to the living room and handed the glass to Roman, telling him to drink that as she sat back down. Roman took the glass and took a small sip of water. 

“You should stay home the coming days,” she continued, “you should rest.”

Roman opened his mouth to protest, but something about his mom’s attitude told him that there would be no discussion about this, so he closed his mouth again and slunk back a bit, drinking a bit of water again. While the general idea of staying home wasn’t something he disliked too much - missing a few days of school wasn’t the worst thing, after all - he also didn’t _ like _it. It was too quiet to only stay indoors, too uneventful. He could stay inside and do nothing for maybe a day, but any longer than that? Impossible. Especially since he became Creativity. But it was clear that his mom wouldn’t settle for anything less, and maybe, he grudgingly admitted, maybe she had a point. As much as he hated to say it. He couldn’t fight evil if he was one step away from dying. 

Megan stayed with Roman for a while, making sure he was okay. She also made sure to call her boss to let them know that she could not come in to work the next day - she did not want Roman to be alone the first day, not without knowing that things wouldn’t get any worse. Of course, he insisted that he was okay, since he did not want his mother to worry about him so much. He hated feeling like a burden like this. 

Despite his attempts at protests, Megan spent most of the first day fussing over Roman. Waking him up regularly - cost her a little bit of sleep, but her son’s well being was more important - and generally making sure that he was alert enough and that the situation didn’t get any worse. 

And when Sophie found out that something was up with her brother, she did everything in her power to make him feel better - without bothering him too much, because that was what her mother told her. She gave Roman a stuffed penguin, the biggest stuffed animal she possessed, to cuddle until he felt better, reasoning that her stuffed animals always made her feel better. She also made him a drawing of Creativity, because she wanted to do something nice for her brother and she loved both him and the hero to bits. And since they were the same person… no better gift, right?

So, with a new drawing taped to his wall and a stuffed animal he was allowed to borrow until he felt better, Roman could go into the next day. Since he had survived the first day without anything bad happening, Megan felt a little bit more confident with his state. She still took Monday off to be sure that he was okay, but after seeing that he was fine, she decided to risk going back to work on Tuesday, although the stressed multiple times that Roman should call her the moment he felt like things weren’t quite okay. And after repeating about a dozen times what he should and shouldn’t do, Megan finally headed out. Even if she still worried. Roman was almost eighteen at this point, so she trusted that he could handle himself alone. But that didn’t stop her mother instinct from worrying sick about him. No matter what happened, he was still her son, and she would always be concerned about him. No matter how old he’d get, no matter how many villains he defeated by himself, he’d always be her kid, and she would always worry.


	12. Chapter 11

On Friday, after school, Patton dropped by to see Roman. To check on how he was doing, but also to spend some time with his friend. He hadn’t been at school all week, and Patton wanted to catch up to see how he was doing. It was weirdly quiet at school with only him and Virgil together. And Roman hadn’t been much on his phone these past few days, so there wasn’t much for them to communicate either.

So, when Patton rang the doorbell that Friday, he was more than excited to see Roman again. It hadn’t even been a full week since the last time they spoke, but it had been the longest they hadn’t seen each other in quite some time, so for him, it felt like an eternity. 

“Hey, Ro,” Patton greeted his friend with a grin as he opened the door. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty alright,” the other smiled, letting his friend in. “Tired, but… nothing I can’t deal with.”

He closed the door and they walked to the living room together. They were alone for the moment. Though it wouldn’t be long; soon enough, Megan would come home with Sophie, and there would be so much more noise than before. That’s why Roman suggested going to his room to talk - but not before getting them something to drink. 

“How’s school been?” Roman asked as the two of them sat down on his bed with their drinks - tea for Patton and water for Roman. 

“Weird,” the other simply answered, warming his hands on the mug in his hand. “I mean- _school _is normal, it’s just weird not having you there.”

Roman nodded carefully. “I get that,” he mused. “Strangely enough, I wish I could be there. I think I might go crazy if I have to stay home any longer.”

Patton hummed softly. He could understand that. Personally, he thought he might be able to handle it - albeit with a fair bit of trouble, but he’d accept it after a while. Roman was way more restless than he was, though, and would have so much more trouble with accepting this. Especially with everything going on with Creativity right now. The gang, Blackbird, Copycat. Patton just _ knew _that Roman was dying to get back out there as soon as he physically could. Maybe even a little sooner. 

“You being okay is more important, Ro,” Patton said, carefully taking a sip of his tea before deciding that it was still a little too hot. “You need to recover from this.”

“I’m fine, though!” the hero tried to protest. “I feel good! I just… don’t wanna do nothing anymore.”

His statement had sounded more like a whine, and Patton managed a small smile - Roman really was a stubborn toddler sometimes. 

“You say that now, but if you get back into things too quickly, you might make things worse,” he told his friend gently as he set the cup of tea on the nightstand, continuing as Roman opened his mouth to make another protest. “I know what you want to say, and we’ve got this, okay? Thomas can take care of the city while you’re out. We can still track the gang, it’s alright! Your health is more important.”

Roman shook his head, too stubborn to let this go. “I have to be out there, Pat,” he tried, “I _ have _to. It’s my duty to protect this city, and to make sure Blackbird and co don’t mess up anything else. I can’t stay inside much longer.”

“Thomas can do that for you,” Patton repeated, not surprised with Roman’s resistance. “You can’t always protect the city. It’s okay to take time off. If you go back too quickly, you might make things worse and you’ll only have to stay inside longer.”

“I just-” Roman took a deep breath and drank a bit of water, giving him a little bit of time to stall. “I can’t take a break, Patton. Not now. Not on this. I don’t _ want _ to. We’re doing so well, I _ want _to be out there. I’ve been working this for months! I want to be there every step of the way.”

Patton sighed as he looked at his hands. Roman was always stubborn like this, and Patton knew how important it was for his friend. But it would be nice if, even just this one time, he would see that his health was more important. Of course, that was too much to ask. 

“Sometimes, you just can’t do that,” he said softly, looking at Roman, who was looking at the glass of water in his hands. “You can’t do everything, Roman. You’re only human, you know? You’re doing the best you can, but right now, you need to rest.”

Roman scoffed softly, looking at the little whirlpool that appeared in his glass as he moved it around slightly. “It isn’t good enough, though,” he said softly. Part of him hoped that it was too soft for Patton to hear, so he wouldn’t have to deal with his friend trying his best to disprove that statement. He already regretted saying that out loud, anyways. He should have kept that one his his head. Like all the others.

“Of course it is!” came the expected protest from Patton. “You’ve done so much! You’ve arrested criminals, saved so many people, tracked down a gang that most people don’t even know existed-”

“I’ve also let 3 people die, killed someone and let said gang get away more often than I should have.”

Patton bit his lip. He knew that Roman tended to weigh his losses more heavily than his victories. If he hadn’t done everything he could have done, hadn’t saved everyone he could have saved, it seemed to be a failure to him. And getting him out of that mindset was something that he - as well as Virgil - had tried for a while, unsuccessfully so far. It was too unhealthy, he was too unfair on himself. He’d done so many good things but he barely acknowledged them, instead focussing on the things he hadn’t been able to do. And that really couldn’t be any good. But it was difficult to get him to see things any differently. But that didn’t mean that he would stop. 

“If you hadn’t been here, things would have been worse.”

Roman shook his head. “Thomas would have been there.”

Patton made a soft noise of disagreement. “You can’t be sure,” he argued. “Thomas said he only started being serious about this after- after what happened with you. If you hadn’t been there- he probably wouldn’t have become Prism.”

Roman understood that this was true; he and Thomas had discussed origin stories a few times before, in differing varieties of depth. So yeah, he knew that his- meeting with Thomas had inspired the other guy to create a masked alter ego for himself. But he felt bad, okay? He just… did. And he would take anything to justify that to himself.

“Maybe it’s… good that you’re taking this break,” Patton continued softly. “You’re so busy with Creativity all the time, maybe it’s good to… I don’t know. Take a step back, I guess.”

Roman whined softly at his friend. He might have a point, but that didn’t mean he _ liked _it. He did spend a lot of time on being the hero this city needed. But that was because he liked doing it, because he felt responsible for this town. Even with Thomas there, he felt responsible for the safety of everyone. Maybe… maybe he did have to take a step back for a little bit. Even if it physically hurt to do so. 

Patton took the lack of snarky comeback as a victory on his part and smiled, picking up his mug again. “I’m just looking out for you,” he defended himself. “You’re my best friend, Ro. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I know,” Roman muttered, giving the other a quick glance, “and I get it. It just… sucks. Not being able to do anything just… sucks.”

“I understand,” Patton nodded. “Just give it a little bit of time. The more you rest, the faster you’ll be able to get back into things.”

Roman sighed, delaying his answer by taking a quick sip of water. “I guess you’re right,” he finally said. “I’m sorry for being such a pain, I just-”

“You’re not a pain,” Patton interrupted with a shake of his head. “Not more than usual.”

The hero rolled his eyes with a grin at his friend. “Thanks, Pat, appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” said friend smiled in return. As he opened his mouth, the sound of a door opened sounded from downstairs, followed by two female voices. Roman yelled a quick greeting to his mom, letting her know that they were upstairs, before looking back at Patton. 

“I’m sorry, you were gonna say something?”

“Oh- yeah,” the other nodded, having to take a moment to remember what he was going to say. “It’s just- you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I just wanted to know how things are going between you and Virgil.”

Despite everything, Roman couldn’t fight back a small smile at this question. He could have seen this coming. He _ should _have seen this coming. Patton loved the two of them, saying that they were quite literally meant to be together. And while he made sure not to force it too much on the two, so they could figure this thing out by themselves, it was clear that he approved of them. Very much so. 

“I mean… pretty well,” he answered carefully. “We haven’t quite… figured it all out, I guess. But it’s nice. We’ve just been… hanging out, going out together. Taking our time. We don’t want to rush into anything, especially with this chaos so… yeah. We’re taking it easy so far.”

“I’m happy for you,” Patton said with a sweet smile. “Both of you. You deserve it.”

Roman smiled, looking at his friend. God, he really was the sweetest. How does one even respond to a comment like that? 

“How about you?” he finally asked, deciding not to linger on the ridiculously sweet comment. “Have you set your eyes on anyone, as they say?”

Patton shook his head. “Not yet,” he responded. “And I’m not sure I ever will. I mean… you and Virgil are setting a ridiculously high bar for my future partner.”

“Okay, now you need to stop.” Roman nudged Patton’s side with a grin. “How am I supposed to deal with those dumb compliments of yours?”

Patton let out a soft laugh. “I’m just stating facts.”

“No, you’re being very you,” the teen hero countered. “That’s not the same thing.”

“Sounds the same to me.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the two friends just talking and catching up, until it became late and Patton announced that he really had to go home before his parents would start worrying about his safety.

“Oh, by the way,” Patton remembered as he got up, “Joan asked me to ask you for the earpiece they gave you. I think they have an update.”

“Oh, sure,” Roman nodded. He got the small box out of his pocket. He’d never taken the earpiece out of the little container Joan had given him, except when going on missions, which… hadn’t been a lot lately. “Here you go.”

Patton took it and stored it in his own pocket. “Thank you,” he smiled. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”

“Well, it’s not as if I’m going to be able to use it much anytime soon, so might as well, huh?” Roman shrugged as he joined his friend in the direction of the door leading into the hallway. 

“I suppose so,” Patton nodded with a soft chuckle. 

As the two walked down the stairs, they both remained silent. There wasn’t much for them to say anymore, so at this point, they were just content to enjoy the other’s presence for as long as it still lasted. 

“Hey, let me know if you guys have a breakthrough, yeah?” Roman asked as they reached the front door. “On the files, or… anything.”

“Of course,” his friend promised. “You say that as if I wasn’t planning on doing that in the first place.”

Roman gave a soft chuckle in response. He didn’t think that his friends would leave him out of it, but… he wanted to be sure. His mind was still working, still lingering on that task. On taking out the gang. On trying to find out where he could find them. And while he was stuck in here, his friends could still work on the case. He just wanted to be sure that they would still include him in all of this. 

“You’re right,” he said softly. “But still. You’ll tell me, right?”

“Of course,” Patton grinned, holding out his hands to silently ask for a hug. “The moment we find something, I’ll let you know.”

Roman gladly complied, wrapping his arms around Patton. “That’s all I could ask for,” he said. “Be safe out there.”

“Obviously.” Patton gave him a bright smile as he pulled back. “I’m not you, you know?”

With an exaggerated gasp, Roman opened the door. “Alright, I think that’s quite enough out of you for today,” he said, trying his best not to laugh as he leaned against the door. “I’ll see you later.” 

Patton did chuckle at his friend’s response, but he stepped out nonetheless. It was time for him to go home, after all. “I’ll see you later,” he repeated. “I love you, Roman.”

Roman smiled in response. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aah finally there's a sequel! (They said after like... a month? After posting the first part? Pff long wait huh)  
I'm gonna make a quick announcement about… idk the future of this universe I guess? It's mostly just a quick PSA that I've got a lot planned for this universe and eventually it's gonna turn into more Original characters than fanfic I guess, so if you're reading this cause fic… yeah you'll know this now lmao 
> 
> Thanks for your attention uwu


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